Significant recent records of Cornish weevils (Curculionoidea) including 22 species new to the county list since 1979

摘要

The author is currently engaged in a detailed review of the weevil fauna of mainland Cornwall. The aim is to generate a reliable county checklist together with assessments of the species' conservation status locally, in comparison with published national status; the review will include details of all records for species which are localised in the county, mapping of the more widespread species, plus information on known ecology in relation to the county's habitats. This project has already identified a substantial number of species which have been reported in recent decades but which were not previously known from the county, and these are presented here - most are presumably overlooked native species but a few do suggest recent colonisation of the county from across the River Tamar from Devon, and three are definite importations of non-British origin. The full review will be published locally but the new county records are assumed to have a wider, national significance. Other records are of significance where 100 years have passed since the previous reported occurrence, belying the idea that 100 years without records indicates extinction. The only previously published review was by Clark (1906) which formed part of the national Victoria County History (VCH) project, and that list provides a useful yardstick for investigating change.