South American potato weevil. Collection of beetles, insects of the Order Coleoptera, has always been an appreciated activity of both amateur and scientist collectors. Beetle collecting illustrates many different types of moves and dimensions, like natural history, evolution, cultural history, and ethnology. The following example illustrates the type specimens of a weevil species described by the French naturalist Alphonse Hustache, in 1933. The species PREMNOTRYPES VORAX is of great economic importance as a potato pest. Hustache described it originally from specimens reared from infested potatoes from South America and that arrived by commerce to Europe, currently deposited in the Hustache’s collection at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris. They were later studied by the Chilean entomologist G. Kuschel during a visit to European Museums, and by several other international researchers.

References:
- EPPO (2025): Premnotrypes vorax. EPPO datasheets on pests recommended for regulation, https://gd.eppo.int, (accessed 2025-02-19).
- Alphonse Hustache (1933): “Deux nouveaux curculionides déprédateurs”, in: Bulletin Du Muséum 5, pp. 376–380.
- Guillermo Kuschel (1955): “Nuevas sinonimias y anotaciones sobre Curculionoidea (Coleoptera)”, in: Revista Chilena de Entomología 4, pp. 161-312.

South American potato weevil. Collection of beetles, insects of the Order Coleoptera, has always been an appreciated activity of both amateur and scientist collectors. Beetle collecting illustrates many different types of moves and dimensions, like natural history, evolution, cultural history, and ethnology.

PREMNOTRYPES VORAX (Hustache, 1933)

beetles, curculionids, potato tubers, Andean highlands, international trade

The Andean Potato Weevils include several species of great economic importance as potato pests. They have been known for centuries by people in local communities cultivating potato crops in the Andean highlands. They became known to science mainly by European entomologists in the early decades of the 20th century. Their occurrence in collections outside South America is mostly due to the international trade of potato tubers, entered as food products or as seeds for planting purposes. Several species of Andean Potato Weevils were described originally from specimens reared from infested potatoes that arrived by commerce in North America and European Countries. Such is the case of the exhibited object: The pair of beetles pinned together are type specimens of a weevil species originally described by the French naturalist Alphonse Hustache, in 1933, from exemplars found in potato tubers from Colombia that had arrived in France. Hustache named it SOLANOPHAGUS VORAX, as type species of the genus, and deposited the studied specimens in his collection at the Muséum national d`Histoire naturelle (MNHN). They were later examined by the Chilean entomologist Guillermo Kuschel during a year trip he spent visiting European Museums holding types of Neotropical weevils. Kuschel, in 1955, synonymized Hustache's SOLANOPHAGUS with the genus PREMNOTRYPES PIERCE, thus establishing the combination PREMNOTRYPES VORAX (Hustache) as the valid name of the species.

1933

Bogotá, Colombia

6 x 3 mm

Two beetle specimens mounted dry on pin

Project: SciCoMove - Scientific Collections on the Move: Provincial Museums, Archives and Collecting Practices (1800-1950).
Funding: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101007579.
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the SciCoMove consortium and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.

„South American Potato Weevil,” SciCoMove, zuletzt aufgerufen am 11. Mai 2025, https://ausstellungen.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/scicomove/items/show/17.