Rhaebus (beetle)

Rhaebus (from the Greek: ῥαιβός curved) is a genus of metallic bean weevils in the subfamily Bruchinae, and the only member of the tribe Rhaebini.^[2][3][4] It is restricted to the Palearctic region.^[4]

Rhaebus
Rhaebus solskyi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:	Bruchinae
Tribe:	Rhaebini Blanchard, 1845[1]
Genus:	Rhaebus Fischer von Waldheim, 1824
Type species
Rhaebus gebleri Fischer von Waldheim, 1824

Appearance

Rhaebus beetles are small, measuring between 3-5 millimetres in length, and are metallic in colour, which is rare in members of the Bruchinae subfamily. Their bodies are elongated in shape, and the antennae vary.^[5]

Diet and life cycle

Rhaebus beetles feed exclusively on plants of the genus Nitraria, where their young also develop.^[5][6][7]

Taxonomic history

The genus was first described in 1824 by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim in his book Entomographie de la Russie.^[8] He described it with only one species, Rh. gebleri, making the genus monotypic.^[5]

Species creation & synonymy

• 1845: Rhaebus fischeri mentioned by Jean T. Lacordaire, not described.
• 1845: Rhaebus mannerheimi named and described by Victor Motschulsky.
• 1866: Rhaebus sagroides named and described by Simon Martinovitch Solsky.
• 1867: Rhaebus beckeri named and described by Christian W. L. E. Suffrain. The original description (in German) is available from Wikimedia Commons.
• 1869: Rh. beckeri and Rh. sagroides synonymized with Rh. mannerheimi by Victor Motchulsky.
• 1879: Rhaebus solskyi proposed by Ernst Gustav Kraatz.
• 1939: Rhaebus komarovi named and described by Fyodor Lukyanovich.
• 1973: Rhaebus lukjanovitschi named and described by Margarita Ervandovna Ter-Minassian.
• 2000: Rhaebus amnoni named and described by Igor Lopatin and Vladimir Chikatunov, after Dr. Amnon Freidberg.
• 2022: Rh. amnoni, Rh. komarovi, and Rh. mannerheimi synonymized with Rh. gebleri by Andrei Legalov.

Species

Since a taxonomic review in August 2022, Rhaebus has three species:^[6][9]

• Rhaebus gebleri Fischer von Waldheim, 1824 (=Rh. mannerheimi, Rh. amnoni, Rh. komarovi) - Found in Turkey, Israel, Southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (China), and Kyrgyzstan.
• Rhaebus lukjanovitschi Ter-Minassian, 1973 - Found in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (China)
• Rhaebus solskyi Kraatz, 1879 - Found in Kazakhstan, Southern Russia, Mongolia, and China.