AN CH ONUS DURYI 
IN SOUTHEASTERN POLYNESIA 
(COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE : 
HYLOBIINAE: ANCHONINI) 1 * 2 * 3 
By Elwood C. Zimmerman 
Bishop Museum, Honolulu 
It was with much surprise that I found a species of the American 
genus Anchonus Schoenherr, 1825, when collecting in southeastern 
Polynesia 30 years ago during the course of Bishop Museum’s Man- 
garevan Expedition. I learned later that A. M. Adamson had found 
the species on Tahiti a few years before my visit there, and, more 
recently, N. L. H. Krauss found the weevil on Raiatea. I had intend- 
ed to report upon the discovery soon after the return of the Manga- 
revan Expedition, but the pressure of other work delayed this note. 
I am grateful to Prof. F. M. Carpenter, Harvard University, who 
most kindly prepared the photographs reproduced here. 
Anchonus is a genus of more than 100 species and is spread widely 
over parts of Mexico, Central America, northern South America, the 
West Indies and extending to such outlying areas as the Cocos and 
Galapagos Islands and to Florida in the United States. The greatest 
numbers of species are in the West Indies and Central America. The 
weevils are flightless ground-dwellers, and they appear most often to 
be found beneath decaying wood or other vegetation on the ground. 
I have identified the species found in southeastern Polynesia as 
Anchonus duryi Blatchley, heretofore recorded only from Florida in 
the United States. I suspect that the species of Anchonus recorded 
from Florida are introductions to that area and are possibly natives 
of the West Indies. 
In Florida, this weevil has been found under masses of sea weed 
and driftwood on beaches. Such a habit may make possible its wide 
dispersal by man. I presume that the weevil was transported to south- 
eastern Polynesia after it had concealed itself in cargo that may have 
been stored on the beach before being loaded aboard ship. It may have 
been carried to Tahiti by sailing ship many years ago. 
*A combined Pacific Entomological Survey and Mangarevan Expedition 
report. 
2 Rhynchophora of Southeastern Polynesia, part 12. 
This is the fifth of a series of reports resulting from the project “Pacific 
Island Weevil Studies” made possible by National Science Foundation re- 
search grant G-18933. Manuscript received by the editor May 1 , 1964. 
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