Pissodites argillosus

Pissodites argillosus

Britton, 1960

Common name Weevil
Fossil group Insects
Order Coleoptera
Family Curculionidae
Genus Pissodites
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Pissodites argillosus was a small early Eocene weevil. Like other weevils, it was almost certainly associated with plants, although its exact host and feeding behaviour are unknown because the fossils do not preserve the head, rostrum or any feeding traces.

Comparison with living wood-associated weevils suggests that it may have used bark or woody plant tissues, particularly during larval life, but this remains an inference rather than direct evidence. The species is known from nine pyritised hindbodies and elytral remains, so its rear-body anatomy is much better understood than its ecology.

Quick Identification

Look for: a slender 2.4–3.2 mm weevil hindbody with nearly touching globular middle coxae, very long first and second abdominal ventrites, and ten shallow longitudinal striae on each elytron containing numerous deep, regular punctures. A short median groove on the metasternum ends forwards in a shallow oval depression.

Diagnostic Features

  • Each elytron bears ten shallow longitudinal striae, with about thirty-six deep regularly spaced punctures along a stria in the described material.
  • First and second abdominal ventrites are each approximately as long as the third, fourth and fifth ventrites combined.
  • Middle coxae are globular and separated by only about one eighth of a coxal diameter.
  • Posterior coxae are strongly transverse, about 1.8 times wider than long, and separated by roughly half a coxal width.
  • A short median metasternal groove, about 0.4 mm long in the described material, ends anteriorly in a shallow elliptical depression.

Fossil Details

Typical size
Preserved hindbodies are about 2.4–3.2 mm long.
Preservation
Fragmentation is a major limitation because this Species was itself described from hindbodies. Compression can alter the relative spacing of the coxae, while abrasion can reduce the depth and apparent number of elytral punctures. Without both ventral anatomy and sufficiently complete elytra, identification should remain at Curculionidae or an appropriate higher level.

Recorded Fossil Sites

No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.

References

  • Britton, E. B. (1960). Beetles from the London clay (Eocene) of Bognor Regis, Sussex. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 4(2), 27–50 View reference
  • Legalov, A. A. (2020). Fossil History of Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) from the Paleogene. Geosciences, 10(9), 358 View reference
Last Reviewed
16 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris