Mecinus pyraster (Herbst)

Curculio pyraster Herbst, 1795

Mecinus andalusicus Faust, 1890

Records. CRI ČER DNI DON* IFR KHE* KHM KYI LUG LWI MYK* ODE POL RIV SUM* TER VIN VOL ZAK [Rosenschöld in Schoenherr 1838: 778; Schoenherr 1845: 188; Nowicki 1864: 38; Łomnicki 1884: 32; Łomnicki 1886: 217; Cherkunov 1889: 190; Rybiński 1903b: 152; Łomnicki 1905: 81; Penecke 1928: 377; Roubal 1941: 242; Tveritina 1953: 62; Fasulati & Sikura 1956: 73; Tveritina 1956b: 138; Kubisz et al. 1998: 275; Arzanov 2000: 867; Mazur 2002: 232; Nazarenko & Kravchenko 2002: 40; Caldara 2004a; Nazarenko 2009b: 501; Sumarokov 2009: 178; Nazarenko 2012g: 53; Caldara 2013a: 139].

Distribution. Europe, Caucasus, Asia Minor, Levant, Iran, Middle Asia, North Africa, tropical Africa; introduced in North America (Caldara 2013a; Caldara & Fogato 2013).

Material examined. Crimea: 1 spec. (ZIN) Tauria, A. Yakovlev leg.; 1 spec. (ZIN) Kerch, Kirichenko leg., 8.iv.1906; 1 spec. (ZIN) Çatır Dağ, Tikhomirova leg., 12.vii.1955; Donetsk Prov.: 1 spec. (ZIN) Netrius River near Svyatohirsk, Arnoldi leg., 30.v.1939 ; Kherson Prov.: 1 spec. (KUMN) NE Hola Prystan, Burkuty env., S.I. Medvedev leg., 31.v.1951; 4 spec. (KUMN) idem, 03.vi.1951; Khmelnytskyi Prov.: 1 spec. (ZIN) Kamianets- Podilskyi, B. Jakubowski & I. Jakubowski leg., 29.vi.1908; Mykolaiv Prov.: 1 spec. (LGC) Kazanka Distr., Lisne, A.I. Golovatyuk leg., 7.v.2003 ; Odesa Prov.: 2 spec. (ZIN) Odessa, 6.xi.1927; Poltava Prov.: 1 spec. (ZIN) Poltava, Th.Lukjanovitsh leg., 24.iv.1924; Sumy Prov.: 1 spec. (ZIN) Shostka env., Kurnakov leg., 22.vi.1940; 1 spec. (ZIN) idem, 20.viii.1940; 1 spec. (ZIN) idem, 22.viii.1940; Zakarpatska Prov.: 1 spec. (ZIN) Rakhiv Distr., Yasynya .

Biology. Xerothermic grasslands. Adults occur in IV–VIII. On Plantago lanceolata, P. media (Plantaginaceae) (Hoffmann 1958; Smreczyński 1976).