The genus Compsus was first named by Carl Johan Schönherr in 1823: col. 1140.[2] It belongs to the subfamily Entiminae, tribe Eustylini and to the so-called "Compsus genus complex".[3]
A key to identify species was provided by Hustache in 1938 (in French),[4] which was translated to English and adjusted by O'Brien and Peña.[5]
Description
Broad-nosed weevils of moderate size (approx. 7–12 mm), most of them uniformly covered by scales of variable coloration ranging from white to metallic green, pink, and blue.
Many morphological features of Compsus overlap with those of related eustyline genera including Exorides, Eustylus, and Oxyderces, composing the so-called "Compsus genus complex".[3]
Compsus auricephalus, known as the golden-headed weevil is the species with northernmost distribution and has association with 46 plant species in 23 families.[3]
^ abWibmer, G. J.; O’Brien, C. W. (1986). "Annotated checklist of the weevils (Curculionidae sensu lato) of South America (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)". Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 39: 1–563.
^O’Brien, C. W.; Wibmer, G. J. (1982). "Annotated checklist of the weevils (Curculionidae sensu lato) of North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)". Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 34: 1–382.