Habits and host-associations of Indomalayan Rhynchophorinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

The data used in this paper have been mainly collected during prolonged investigations of the forest fauna of Java, particularly with regard to insect species of some economic or silvicultural importance (see KALSHOVEN, 1955). This explains why some special attention has been paid to weevils damaging the rattan palms, a source of very valuable secondary forest produce in the East, as well as to those living on the bamboos, often growing wild or semi-wild in the forests, and to certain species occurring on Zingiberaceae, which plants are such a common feature of the oriental forest vegetation. These investigations formed only a side-line of the programme of forest entomological work and inevitably only yielded fragmentary data, but they could be supplemented to some extent with information found in the files of the former ”Instituut voor Plantenziekten” (Institute for Plant diseases and Pests) at Bogor. Moreover the literature was extensively searched for additional data from neighbouring countries. The identification of the collected species mainly dates from the year 1936 and was much furthered by the cooperation of Mr. F. C. DRESCHER, the diligent and successful collector of Coleoptera, who lived at Bandung at the time (LIEFTINCK, 1958). Mr. DRESCHER had recently submitted most of his Rhynchophorine material to Dr. K. GUENTHER at Dresden, Germany, who specialized in the group and published a few papers on its Indomalayan representatives. Mr. DRESCHER sent us a list of some 74 different species, mostly of Javanese and Sumatran origin, in his collection, adding a few notes on the host-plants so far observed by him or reported by his native collectors. Exchange of specimens with known hosts also took place. Recently I studied the Rhynchophorinae in the museum at Amsterdam, which possesses Mr. DRESCHER’S captures during the first period of his residence in Java. These have not been seen by GUENTHER but a great number have been identified by K. M. HELLER, the well known specialist on oriental Curculionidae. I also studied the material at the Leiden Museum, Where the rich VETH collection of Indomalayan Coleoptera is kept. As a further introduction some general remarks on the Rhynchophorinae of rattan palms and bamboos in Java may precede the survey of ecological details on the individual species.