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Tag Archives: British weevils

Gorse weevils and dung flies

22 Wednesday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Tags

British weevils, Dung fly, flowering Gorse, Gorse weevil, weevils on Gorse, Yellow dung fly

Last Sunday was very Spring-like, the sunshine warm on your back if you were out of the wind. Nature thought so too and I was delighted to see some insects out and about. Though my first butterfly of the year, a Brimstone, didn’t linger long enough for a photo, the abundance of Gorse weevils on the flowering Gorse bushes were much more obliging.

230222 gorse weevils

And, on a rather large splatter of dog poo, which the dog’s owner hadn’t bothered to pick up, Dung flies were out in good numbers. Which is probably one of the very few reasons I would ever want to look closely at dog poo.

230222 dung fly

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Leafmines: Orchestes signifer

13 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British weevils, leafmines on Oak, Orchestes signifer, weevil, weevil leafmines

From my previous posts, including the recent A weirdness of weevils, I’m sure it’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of weevils, but I’d never given a thought to their life cycle until I found these leafmines. The mines are the work of the larvae of the weevil Orchestes signifer. The gallery mines follow the edges of Oak leaves before terminating in a small blotch. At that point, the larvae make themselves a case by cutting out the circular blotch, and, snugly encased, they drop to the ground to pupate. You can find a photo of the black-and-white adult weevil on the British Leafminers website.

220613 Orchestes signifer

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A weirdness of weevils

01 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British weevils, weevil

They’re tiny – some more so than others; they’re odd looking – those snouts; they come in a variety of colours – that red; and they’re very very cute. During recent walks, I’ve been seeing lots of weevils, of various sizes, shades and shapes, sunning themselves on leaves on trees and shrubs, so do cast an eye their weevil way.

220601 weevils

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First weevil

07 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects

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British weevils, Exapion ulicis, gorse flower, Gorse weevil, weevil

Woot! This teeny tiny beastie is my first weevil of 2022, as you can probably guess from the yellow flower it’s sitting on, a Gorse weevil (Exapion ulicis). I’ve read that they usually feed by poking their snout (properly known as a rostrum) into gorse stems and seeds but this one had its snout so firmly inserted into the flower that it looked like it would almost tip over.

220407 gorse weevil

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98/366 Social distancing?

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British weevils, gorse, Gorse flowers, Gorse weevil, mating weevils

Two’s company.

Three’s a crowd.

Uh oh!

Four’s … an orgy? The Gorse weevils I observed during yesterday’s exercise walk in a local park were blatantly ignoring the social distancing rules. Please don’t act like Gorse weevils!

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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