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Tag Archives: weevil

Figwort weevils and larva

29 Monday May 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British weevils, Cionus scrophulariae, Figwort weevil, Figwort weevil larva, weevil

I love weevils! I’ve probably said that before; I’ll undoubtedly say it again. So, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat when I spotted these gorgeous mini-beasties.

230529 figwort weevil (1)

Perched on the tiny bundles of fruit of the plant they’re named for, these are Figwort weevils (Cionus scrophulariae). Their furry looking coats of beige and brown and light grey are pure decoration (imagine having a coat like that to wear!), and probably also good camouflage. And their impressive snouts are used for sucking the juices from their plant hosts (they can also be found on Mullein), though I don’t think these two weevils were feeding – I think they were egg-laying, as I noticed tiny blobs of yellow emerging from their rear ends, and I don’t think it was pooh.

230529 figwort weevil (2)

Amazingly, I managed to find a Figwort weevil larva, something I’ve never seen before. I’ve lightened this photo to show the detail a little more clearly but, as the UK Beetles website explains, they are actually dark brown, ‘almost black, and covered in a shiny and sticky secretion which makes them distasteful to predators and is thought to give some protection from parasites’. I actually find it quite difficult to comprehend that this slimy slug lookalike morphs into the complicated character that is the adult Figwort weevil.

230529 figwort weevil (3)

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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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202/366 More misc minis

20 Monday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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bonking neetles, British butterflies, British crickets, British grasshoppers, Common red soldier beetle, Green-veined white, Long winged cone-head, Meadow grasshopper, Nettle weevil, Small copper, weevil

Some snippets from the insect world around me:

200720 common red soldier beetles

A sure sign that it’s now high summer, Common red soldier beetles (Rhagonycha fulva) can be seen everywhere, especially on the flowers of umbellifers, demonstrating why they are often called bonking beetles.

200720 green-veined white (1)
200720 green-veined white (2)

Also caught copulating, these Green-veined white butterflies (Pieris napi) were being annoyed by a third of their kind, trying to get involved in the action.

200720 small copper

On the subject of butterflies, the second brood of Small coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) is now on the wing. This stunning specimen was only the second Small copper I’d seen this year, so was a very welcome sighting.

200720 nettle weevil

There’s nothing cuter than a weevil. This one is, I think, a Nettle weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus).

200720 ants on ragwort (1)
200720 ants on ragwort (2)

I found this odd: a colony of ants, farming a horde of aphids on this ragwort plant, have extended their nest up the very stem of the plant.

200720 meadow grasshopper

To finish this post, first, a Meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) nymph and …

200720 long winged cone-head nymph

… another nymph, also often a meadow dweller, this time a cricket species, a Long winged cone-head (Conocephalus fuscus).

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148/366 Tiny surprises

27 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

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British insects, Cardinal beetle, Eristalis nemorum, hoverfly, Nettle weevil, Swollen-thighed beetle, weevil

When you’re bright red, it’s hard to hide in the grass but it was still a nice surprise to spot this lovely Cardinal beetle, and it didn’t seem to mind me picking it up for a closer look.

200527 cardinal beetle

I was looking for the pupa cases of moths on a Wych elm when I spotted this weevil. It looked to me like a Nettle weevil, so it was a bit of a surprise to find it up in a tree.

200527 weevil

Speaking of weevils … As my eyesight is not very good, I sometimes don’t notice very small creatures, and this is a case in point. I had spotted the hoverfly, Eristalis nemorum, so took a few photos of that and didn’t spot the teeny weeny weevil until I looked at the photos on my laptop when I got home.

200527 eristalis nemorum

And the same is also true of the smaller bug in this wild rose. I saw the Swollen-thighed beetle, on the right, but not the other creature, until later. I love these little surprises from Mother Nature.

200527 wild rose and insects

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Tiny and red

24 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Apion frumentarium, British insects, National Insect Week, red weevil, weevil

For day 24 of my #30DaysWild, I’m actually going on a wander with a friend around my local area this evening, looking out for Swift nesting spots.

Apion frumentarium

But, as that probably won’t produce any photos and won’t finish until late, and as this is the last day of National Insect Week and these particular insects are incredibly cute, I thought I’d blog about some tiny wee red creatures I bumped into a couple of weeks ago.

Apion frumentarium

These are, I believe, Apion frumentarium, a rather gorgeous, if extremely small weevil that is quite common in Britain and spends most of its life on various members of the Dock family.

Apion frumentarium

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Weevil as biological controller

29 Monday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

≈ 6 Comments

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Exapion ulicis, gorse, Gorse weevil, insects on gorse, weevil, weevil as biological control, weevil introduced to New Zealand

It was lunchtime on our Glamorgan botany group walk and, rather than get a wet bum from sitting on the damp grass, I was eating my roll and cheese while poking around the flowers of a nearby gorse bush. I was looking for Gorse shieldbugs, of which I found not a sign, but I did find this tiny creature and, after a bit more poking, a couple of its friends.

170529 Gorse weevil (2)

It’s a Gorse weevil (Exapion ulicis) and, as you can judge from its size relative to my finger, it’s tiny, only 2 to 3mm long. Its snout is (relatively) enormous, about half as long as its body, making it look like a cross between an elephant (without the ears) and a spider (those legs!). And that snout is its secret weapon – the weevil uses its snout to burrow into the stem and spines of the gorse bush to eat the soft tissue inside.

170529 Gorse weevil (1)

Apparently this little weevil was introduced to my homeland, New Zealand, back in 1931 in an effort to control the introduced (by British migrants as cheap hedging) gorse bushes that were thriving in New Zealand’s favourable climate. The weevil’s larvae live inside and eat gorse seeds, thus preventing the bushes from reproducing. The little gorse weevil has done its job well but it seems the scientists hadn’t banked on the fact that the weevil larvae only eat gorse seeds in the springtime and the gorse also flowers and seeds in the autumn.

170529 Gorse weevil (3)

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The Gonzo of insect land

23 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

National Insect Week, Nettle weevil, Phyllobius pomaceus, weevil

Although The Muppets appeared after my childhood years, I’m still familiar with the main characters and one of my favourites has always been Gonzo. Perhaps that’s why I also love the Gonzos of the insect world, the weevils. And it’s not just their elongated snouts that remind me of him. Although weevils don’t have Gonzo’s energy, they do seem inclined towards occasional death-defying acts, teetering recklessly on the edges of leaves while reaching out for their next foothold, though they draw the line at catching cannonballs!

160623 nettle weevils (1)
160623 nettle weevils (2)
160623 nettle weevils (3)

Weevils can be difficult to identify but, as the ones pictured here were all found on nettles, I’m going to hazard a guess that they’re Nettle weevils (Phyllobius pomaceus). Being slightly more scientific, I think I can see the prominent tooth on the front femur of some of these creatures, which also helps to identify them, as does the position of their antennas on their heads. As you can see, the Neetle weevil is covered in blue-green scales that have a metallic sheen, though these can rub off as they age – and engage in death-defying (and other!) acts – so, older specimens do sometimes look more black than blue-green.

160623 nettle weevils (4)
160623 nettle weevils (5)
160623 nettle weevils (6)

 

 

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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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