Australian Acacia seed feeding weevils for biocontrol

The Australian genus Melanterius (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) is a large group of seed-feeding weevils closely associated with Australian Acacias. Melanterius species are of economic importance given their use as biocontrol agent, nevertheless thorough studies have been lacking. For three years (2011-2013) Acacias were inspected yielding more than 3000 specimens, representing 42 weevil genera. A subset of weevils was sequenced for 3 mitochondrial and 3 nuclear genes to delimit species molecularly and study their host specificity. The phylogeny of the weevils was analyzed with the Acacia phylogeny to determine the evolutionary patterns between these groups. Determining the host specificity of the weevils and their relationship to the acacias is crucial for the control of African weeds and insights into the diversity of Australian weevils. Here we show all species, including new species and their host associations.