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Hypera postica

Basic information
Scientific name Hypera postica

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アルファルファタコゾウムシ
Common names Alfalfa weevil
Higher taxon Curculionidae, Curculionoidea, Coleoptera
Natural range Europe
Habitat Parasite on Fabaceae plants.
Invasion information
Range in Japan Hokkaido, Fukushima, and Kanto District, Hokuriku District to western Japan. In Ryukyus, Okinawajima and Kumejima Is. Range in Japan
Origin Unknown.
Date The first record in Japan was in Jun 1982 at Fukuoka and Jul 1982 at Okinawajima Is. The first record in Kumejima Is. was in 1984.
Route Accidental: Hitchhiking on some transport
Impact Actually: Predation on Fabaceae plants. Damage on Astragalus sinicus (an agricultural resource as nectar source) is serious in Japan. Shortage of food sometimes cause damages on cucumber, melon, egg plants, onion, etc. by adult weevil.
Native organism(s) affected: Fabaceae plants.
Regulation in Japan Family Curculionidae is designated as a Quarantine Pest (the Plant Protection Law).
Introduced range in other countries Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, North Africa, North America, etc.
Reference Notes
  • Ecol Soc Jpn (ed) (2002) Handbook of Alien Species in Japan. Chijinshokan, Tokyo (in Jpn)
  • Kimura & Kaku (1991) Rearing and release of the imported parasitoids of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica. Plant Protection. 45, 50-54 (in Jpn)
  • Kohama & Takahara (2002) Exotic insects in Okinawa. Bull Okinawa Pref Mus. 28, 55-92 (in Jpn)
  • Kojima et al. (2003-2008) Japanese Weevil Data Base (Accessed on 2012-4-12) http://kogane.wem.sfc.keio.ac.jp/jwdb/index.html (in Jpn)
  • Oklahoma State UnivEntomology & Plant Pathology (Accessed on 2012-4-12) http://entoplp.okstate.edu/ddd/index.html.
  • Plant Protection Station (2011) The Plant Protection Act. Quarantine Pest List. (Accessed on 2012-4-12) http://www.pps.go.jp/law_active/Notification/basis/5/245/html/245.html (in Jpn)
  • Yamaguchi & Inoue (2010) Parasitoids of Alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), collected in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Kyushu Pl Prot Res. 56, 52-57 (in Jpn with English abst)
  • Yamaguchi et al. (2007) Distribution of the alfalfa weevil, Hypes postica (Gyllenhal) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in central and northern Honshu Island, Japan in the spring of 2006. Proc Kanto-Tosan Plant Prot Soc. 54, 165-172 (in Jpn with English abst)
 100 of the Japan’s Worst Invasive Alien Species