About Gonipterus platensis (Marelli, 1926)
This weevil species, Gonipterus platensis, has a greyish-brown body and a light-colored transverse band across it. Adults grow to roughly 13 millimeters in length. It cannot be easily distinguished from three closely related weevil species: Gonipterus gibberus, Gonipterus pulverulentus, and Gonipterus scutellatus. All these species share the same common names, because they have been confused with one another throughout history. The gum tree weevil, which this species is a member of, is endemic to Australia, the native range of Eucalyptus trees. G. platensis and other related species in the genus Gonipterus are invasive pests of eucalyptus in Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. Until 2012, all of these invasive pest populations were historically misidentified as G. scutellatus. When researchers analyzed the DNA of these pest species that year, they found that none of the invasive populations were actually genuine G. scutellatus. Populations that were formerly misidentified as Gonipterus scutellatus in New Zealand, North America, Hawaii, and western Europe are now recognized as Gonipterus platensis. Populations in Africa and eastern Europe, by contrast, belong to an as-yet undescribed species.
