A review of Niphadonyx, a high altitude weevil genus of the Himalayas and North-West China

The genus of Curculionidae Molytinae Niphadonyx is revised after the study of a large amount of specimens recently collected in the Himalayas and in north-western China. Collections housed in Museums and Institutions around the world were also visited and type specimens of the previously described taxa were examined. After nomenclatural remarks and confirmation of formerly proposed genus-rank synonymies, the genus is re-defined. The eight previously known taxa of Niphadonyx are re-described and when necessary lectotypes are designated. The works includes the description of 43 new species, 15 of which pertinent to the southern slopes of the Himalayas and 28 belonging to the fauna of North-West China. For each species all the collecting localities are georeferenced, and a high definition distribution map is provided. Photographs of the body and of morphologic details are included.