Cercopeus schwarzi Sleeper, 1955 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) New to Canada

In 2010, a female root weevil specimen was submitted for identification through the National Identification Service at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes (CNCI). The specimen, identified as Cercopeus schwarzi Sleeper, 1955 (Curculionidae: Entiminae: Trachyphloeini) (Fig. 1) by PB, had the following label data “Canada: Ontario: Windsor, Spring Garden Area, Elgin Street, Lansing Street, Todd Lane, Lat (42.26055), Long (−83.056900), 08-vii-2009, near deciduous trees”. The specimen was collected by staff of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as part of an Invasive Alien Species Forest Trapping Survey. This species was previously known only from Arkansas, Michigan, and Illinois (Sleeper 1955, O’Brien et al. 2010). Bright and Bouchard (2008), who recently reviewed the root weevil fauna (subfamily Entiminae) of Canada and Alaska, suspected it was possible for this species to occur in southern Ontario. In order to further confirm the presence of this species in Ontario, Canada, a trapping survey of the same area was undertaken in the summer of 2011. The trapping area was located in a remnant of Carolinian oak forest, within the Spring Garden Natural Area, Windsor, Ontario. The mature trees were predominantly white oak (Quercus alba L.; Fagaceae). There was an assortment of black oak (Quercus velutina Lamarck), burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michaux), and pignut hickory (Carya glabra (Miller) Sweet; Juglandaceae) trees also present. Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum Aiton; Ericaceae) and huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata (Wagenh.) K. Koch; Ericaceae) were also common in this area. Pitfall traps (8.2 cm diameter, 473 ml, sunken plastic cups with clear plastic rain shields propped 5 cm above the trap opening) were installed into the thick layer of oak leaf litter on the forest floor. Traps were placed at 5.0, 5.5, 31.0, 36.0, 61.0, and 66.0 m from the edge of the woods, in close proximity to one of the following;