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Embates sp.
A tiny weevil of only 3 mm that hides in the junctions of stem and leaf just like a tiny piece of detritus. It can encircle the branchlets with its legs and is very hard to remove. It also has the peculiarity of keeping the first two pairs of legs closely together, almost using them like a single pair of legs. Family Curculionidae, Subfamily Baridinae.
On bushes close to the Rio Grijalva, Sumidero Canyon, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico.
The last 2 pictures in black and white were taken by Renato Zarate.
7 Comments
Thank you thaptor! That helps a lot!
I guess this is the MEX representation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/251679-...
Better explained here:
https://www.contributions-to-entomology....
Embates / Ambates were long time considered as two spellings of the same genus concept, but J.Prena gave them genus rank (different type species chosen).
Ambates has less species, in Mexico only one - which is not yours!
This must be Embates sp., in consequence.
The paper on the latter I can't read either.
Thank you thaptor, which is correct for the generic name? Embates or Ambates? I see both of them in the literature. Do you have this paper?(http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2005f/z01100p151f.pdf). I can't see all of it unless I send for it. Maybe it has pictures of the species described.
Baridinae: Ambates sp.
I don't try further - on following plate you see several similar spp. depicted - and I bet there are some more which are not!
http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections...
Thank you Keith.
Nice series.