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Abstract
The weevil genus Ita Tournier, Citation1878 is revised, its phylogeny inferred and its historical biogeography discussed. Its nomenclatural history is detailed and its taxonomic placement within the Curculionidae is examined; the genus is ascribed to the subfamily Curculioninae, tribe Itini. The type specimens of all the described names referable to this genus were examined and lectotypes designated. Ten new species are described. The synonymy Xeronoma Iablokov-Khnzorian, Citation1964 = Ita Tournier, Citation1878 syn. nov. is proposed. The natural history is detailed: all the species for which data are available live in halophytic habitats and are associated with the former family Chenopodiaceae. Inference on phylogeny and hypotheses on historical biogeography are proposed: the genus has probably differentiated not later than the upper Miocene along the south-eastern coasts of the Paratethys; a subsequent radiation occurred as a consequence of the tectonic evolution of the region and through events of dispersion and dispersal.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank all the friends and colleagues who made this study possible: H. Perrin (MNHN), M.A. Alonso-Zarazaga (MNCN), C. Pesarini (MSNM), K. Klass (MTD), H. Silfverberg (MZH), L Friedman (TAU), B. Korotyaev (ZIN), R. Caldara (CAL; VIT), J. Krátký (KRA) and the late J.O. Vořìšek (Kladno, Czech Republic). Thanks to Mark Kalashian (Yerevan, Armenia) and M. Barclay (BMNH) it was possible to study the type of I. latirostris. Information on the geological history of the Tamlelt basin was kindly provided by H. Hamid (Bouârfa, Morocco), whereas O. Chavanon (Oujda, Morocco) helped in organizing the trip during which I. chavanoni was found. D. Silvestro (Senckenberg Institute, Frankfurt, Germany) helped applying the phylogenetic methods and performed the Bayesian Inference analysis. Chris Lyal (BMNH) and an anonymous reviewer gave very useful suggestions for improvement of the paper. A. Casale (Torino, Italy) gave further indications for the biogeographical discussion and finally M. Morris and Max Barclay (BMNH) checked the English.