Here’s another of last year’s new finds, which I think is a Sitona lineatus weevil but that hasn’t yet been confirmed, hence today’s blog title of Sitona species. I found this little creature on the local park railings at the end of April last year but had been holding off posting about it pending verification, or not. It seems, however, that no one is currently checking weevil records.

If this is, in fact, Sitona lineatus, its common name is Pea leaf weevil, and the Naturespot website says it is the most common of the Sitona species. Although the website provides a list of features to look for to identify this species – straight sides to the wing cases, moderately bulging eyes, alternating light and dark longitudinal stripes, etc., some of those features, like ‘flat bristles on the front half of the wing cases and slightly raised in the rear half’, are shared by other Sitona species. Naturespot reports that ‘dissection is often necessary to confirm’ which species you have found, and I prefer to leave all the lovely little creatures I find alive and plodding along.