Cressa critica L. (Convolvulaceae), host plant of the weevil Sharpia rubida (Rosenhauer, 1956) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Erirrhininae)

Abstract

In the course of a study on Cressa cretica, an endangered plant living in transient salt marshes, we detected a parasitism involving the rare weevi l Sharpia rubida. The consequences fo r the reprodu ction of the plant may be dramatic, since up to about 90% of the flower buds are destroyed. Ovipos ition and larval developm ent of Sharpia rubida occur in the flower buds between the end of July and the end of Aug ust. The fourth-instar larvae pupate in the soil. Adults emerge in September and overwinter in the surrounding vegetation