Notes 4: Weevil species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from the Philippines declared as "new" by some researchers in 2019

[Main] [Bakukang, et al. Notes]

Due to some suspicious methods and doubtful data observed on recently published "new" species in 2020 such as Metapocyrtus latifasciatus, M. tagabawa, M. pulangi, and Pachyrhynchus mindoroensis, the species listed below which have been declared by some researchers as "new" in 2019 from the Philippines shall be subjected to scrutiny to ensure that data presented for each species is accurate and verifiable.

Locality data is easily verifiable if publications presented control numbers of government-issued permits such as the Wildlife Gratuitous Permit, Local Transport Permit (if interprovincial transport occurred), and Wildlife Export Certification (if specimens were transported outside of the Philippines, such as Europe).

Evaluating the articles listed in the references may reveal how these specimens were acquired and transported if currently deposited outside of the country. Such details can be helpful in tracing the documentation confirming that the distribution data presented in these papers are accurate. These details will also be a helpful guide on what documents are needed when one is interested to do Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Wildlife collections for the purpose of scientific research is allowed after the issuance of Wildlife Gratuitous Permits by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional offices. This is mandated by Republic Act 9147, also known as the "Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act" [12], passed in the year 2001. This means that wildlife collections done from 2001 up to the present are subject to this law.

Furthermore, DENR Administrative Order 2019-09, Section 9 Illegal Acts states that "It shall be unlawful for any person, group or entity to collect and/or trade threatened wild fauna listed hereof, unless such acts are covered by a permit issued by the DENR in accordance with existing wildlife laws, rules and regulations." [13]

A summary of the provisions in DENR AO 2019-09 and RA 9147 can be found here.

List of the 24 species declared as "new" in 2019:

1. Trichomacrocyrtus caerulans Rukmane, 2019 [9]
2. Eupachyrrhynchus auromaculatus Rukmane, 2019 [7]
3. Eupachyrrhynchus barbalsi Rukmane, 2019 [7]
4. Eupachyrrhynchus barsevskisi Rukmane, 2019 [7]
5. Eupachyrrhynchus viridimaculatus Rukmane, 2019 [7]
6. Celebia barsevskisi Leitāne and Rukmane, 2019 [4]
7. Celebia negrosensis Leitāne and Rukmane, 2019 [4]
8. Celebia mindanaoensis Leitāne and Rukmane, 2019 [4]
9. Pachyrhynchus sagittatus Rukmane, 2019 [6]
10. Pachyrhynchus tetramaculatus Rukmane, 2019 [6]
11. Pachyrhynchus kirklayroni Rukmane, 2019 [6]
12. Pachyrhynchus disargus Rukmane, 2019 [6]
13. Pachyrhynchus phaleratus dannylayroni Rukmane, 2019 [6]
14. Pachyrhynchus congestus aedamlayroni Rukmane, 2019 [6]
15. Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) polychromus Bollino, Sandel, &Yoshitake, 2019 [2]
16. Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) tandaya Bollino, Sandel, &Yoshitake, 2019 [2]
17. Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) inexpectatus Bollino, Sandel, &Yoshitake, 2019 [2]
18. Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) mysticus Bollino, Sandel, &Yoshitake, 2019 [2]
19. Pachyrhynchus ottomerkli Rukmane, 2019 [10]
20. Macrocyrtus (Macrocyrtus) stellarum Rukmane, 2019 [8]
21. Pachyrhynchus sibuyanensis Rukmane, 2019 [11]
22. Expachyrhynchus palawanensis Rukmane, 2019 [5]
23. Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) colonnellii Bollino, Yoshitake, & Sandel, 2019 [3]
24. Metapocyrtus kitangladensis Cabras, Medina & Zhang, 2019 [1]

Figure 1. Artistic rendition of weevil species from the Philippines declared by some researchers as "new" to science in articles published in 2019.

Figure 2. Summary of the species from the Philippines declared by some researchers as "new" to science in articles published in 2019 in video presentation format.

References:

[1] Cabras, Analyn A., Medina, Milton Norman D., and Zhang Guanyang. 2019. Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n., a new Pachyrhynchus cumingii GR Waterhouse, 1841 Mimic from Mindanao Island, Philippines. Zookeys. Vol. 853: 1190129.

[2] Bollino, Maurizio, Sandel, Franco, and Yoshitake, Hiraku. 2019. Four New Species of the Genus Metapocyrtus Heller, Subgenus Artapocyrtus Heller (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae) from the Philippines. Elytra, Tokyo, New Series, 9(2): 395-407.

[3] Bollino, Maurizio, Yoshitake, Hiraku and Sandel, Franco. 2019. A New Species of the Genus Metapocyrtus Heller, 1912, Subgenus Artapocyrtus Heller, 1912 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae) from Catanduanes Island, the Philippines. Elytra, Tokyo, New Series, 9(1): 167-176.

[4] Leitāne, Līga and Rukmane, Anita. 2019. Three New Species of the Genus Celebia Thomson, 1857 (Coleoptera: Curculinidae: Eupholini) from the Philippines. Baltic Journal of Coleopterology, 19(2): 187-196.

[5] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. A New Species of the Genus Expachyrhynchus Yoshitake, 2013 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Pachyrhynchini) from Palawan Island, Philippines. Baltic Journal of Coleopterology. 19(1): 35-40.

[6] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. Four New Species and Two Subspecies of the Genus Pachyrhynchus Germar, 1824 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Pachyrhynchini) from Luzon Island, Philippines. Baltic Journal of Coleopterology, 19(2): 141-150.

[7] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. Four New Species of the Genus Eupachyrhynchus Heller, 1912 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from Luzon Island, Philippines. Baltic Journal of Coleopterology, 19(2): 151-158.

[8] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. One New Species of the Genus Macrocyrtus Heller, 1912 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Pachyrhynchini) from Luzon Island, Philippines. Acta Biol. University of Daugavpils. 19(1): 37-40.

[9] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. One New Species of the Genus Trichomacrocyrtus Yoshitake, 2018 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from Luzon Island, Philippines. Baltic journal of Coleopterology. 19(2): 159-162.

[10] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. To the Knowledge of the Genus Pachyrhynchus Germar, 1824 (Coleoptera: Pachyrhynchini) Species from HUF (Budapest, Hungary), with Description of a New Species from the Mindanao Island (Philippines). Acta Biol. University of Daugavpils. 19(2): 267-272.

[11] Rukmane, Anita. 2019. To the Knowledge of Genus Pachyrhynchus Germar, 1824 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Pachyrhynchini) Species from SMNH (Stockholm, Sweden), with Description of a New Species from the Sibuyan Island (Philippines). Baltic Journal of Coleopterology. 19(1): 41-50.

[12] Republic Act 9147 "Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act". https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2001/07/30/republic-act-no-9417/

[13] DENR Administrative Order 2019-09. Retrieved from: http://www.bmb.gov.ph/index.php/e-library/laws-and-policies/denr-administrative-orders/dao-2017-2019

[Main] [Bakukang, et al. Notes]