tiny brown & whitish Weevil with plump snout - Stenopelmus rufinasus

Correct Stenopelmus rufinasus Gyllenhal

… Charles W. O'Brien, 22 June, 2010 - 6:39pm

Thanks for the confirmation, Dr. OBrien !

Much appreciated !

… Emile, 22 June, 2010 - 10:34pm

thanks much for the push, Emile...

a regular pushing match indeed :)
i'll ask about the title of that Schönherr's work -- can't tell you offhand, and none of my few handy sources cites it

Moved from ID Request.

… v belov, 22 June, 2010 - 3:30pm

got it -- OCR screwup: should be 'Curc.' [not 'Cure.']

it's his opus magnum: Curculionidum dispositio methodica, cum generum characteribus, descriptionibus atque observationibus variis, seu Prodromus ad Synonymiae...

… v belov, 22 June, 2010 - 3:44pm

Thanks =V=, you have multifaceted talents !

… Emile, 22 June, 2010 - 10:32pm

fun. no idea yet. must be something periaquatic, no?

rather narrow bagoine-style tarsi suggest that

… v belov, 21 June, 2010 - 3:33pm

You're so good, =V= !

This lil' weevil was indeed found on the edge of a vernal pool !

I researched Bagous and its close relatives, but could not find any with such whitish markings.
Then I expanded to other related periaquatic genera and found the perfect match: Stenopelmus rufinasus.
This weevil is commonly known as Azolla Weevil or Water Fern Weevil, which makes a lot of sense as the vernal pool had a lot of Water Fern (Azolla filiculoides) !

Interesting is that both the Water Fern and the Weevil are native to North America.
The Water Fern has been spread to other countries, and the Azolla Weevil has been introduced in those countries to keep its spread in check !

While doing the research, I was amazed at the remarkable dichotomy between the stability of the generic and species nomenclature versus the instability of the higher taxonomic nomenclature of these weevils.

In closing, one more enigma I'd love to resolve:
The original 1836 description of Stenopelmus rufinasus by Gyllenhal is cited as being published in "Sch. Cure".
Would you know what this abbreviation stands for ?
I also found non-related citations with "Schönherr Cure. Disp. Method.", but I'm not sure if this refers to the same publication.

… Emile, 22 June, 2010 - 1:49pm