Tag Archives: Nesiotes breviusculus Wollaston

Nesiobius breviusculus (Wollaston)

Short Nesiobius Weevil (Nesiobius breviusculus)  

The Short Nesiobius Weevil was described in 1877, it was endemic to the island of Saint Helena, where it inhabited the Cabbage Tree forests, dominated by species like the She Cabbage (Lachanodes arborea(Roxb.) B. Nord.) and the He Cabbage (Melanodendron integrifolium (Roxb.) DC.) on the island’s Central Plateau.:

It is a scarce species, so far as my own observations are concerned, but one which is nevertheless widely distributed along the whole central ridge, – my examples being from the vicinity of Diana’s Peak, as well as from High Peak and above West Lodge; and, unless it be in any way connected with the Aster gummiferus (or “Little Bastard Gummwood”) [Commidendrum robustum ssp. gummiferum (Roxb.) Cronk], which is far from impossible, I think that we must regard it as a member of the great cabbage-tree fauna.” [1]

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The species was not found during the many recent field searches and is now considered extinct. [2]  

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References:  

[1] T. Vernon Wollaston: Coleoptera Sanctae-Helenae. London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row 1877 
[2] Howard Mendel; Philip Ashmole; Myrtle Ashmole: Invertebrates of the Central Peaks and Peak Dale, St Helena. 2008  

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edited: 29.05.2021