Hello fellow Foxies,
I can still remember my delight as a child when I found a catasarcus weevil, put it on a finger, and felt it hanging on for dear life as I tried to remove it. Weevils are harmless, galumph along and look cute. This link provides an excellent introduction.
I can still remember my delight as a child when I found a catasarcus weevil, put it on a finger, and felt it hanging on for dear life as I tried to remove it. Weevils are harmless, galumph along and look cute. This link provides an excellent introduction.
 Weevil snout |  Galumphing Oxops weevil |
Haplonyx species Weevils are a type of beetle; there are lots of them (over 6000 Australian species) and they are all vegans. The distinctive long snout (rostrum) is not used for sucking, as it has chewing mouthparts at the end. Many weevils are very selective about which plant (and often which part of the plant) they eat and often chew deep into the plant part to lay their eggs
a very general rule of thumb is the longer the snout the deeper the eggs are laid.
The Haplonyx species (pear-shaped weevil) was about to drill into a Drummonds mallee bud.
The file below describes the life cycle of another Haplonyx species
a very general rule of thumb is the longer the snout the deeper the eggs are laid.
The Haplonyx species (pear-shaped weevil) was about to drill into a Drummonds mallee bud.
The file below describes the life cycle of another Haplonyx species
| Tuart bud weevil and gregarious gall weevil |
In Foxes Lair I often see weevils on flowering Jacksonia plants. Here are some examples. I found the rare and beautiful Ctenaphides maculatus only once despite intensive searches.
 |  Ctenaphides maculatus |
 Unknown species |  Rhinotia suturalis |  Polyphrades species |
Weevils vary greatly in sizes. Tiny Rhinolaccus ant mimic weevils live on acacias. Adults chew the stems and grub type larvae burrow inside the plants. Other small weevils include agricultural pests such as desiantha weevils and closely related vegetable weevils.
 Desiantha weevil/spotted vegetable weevil |  |
Surprisingly, closely related species may have different types of larvae. For example desiantha weevil larvae are pale grubs that chew grass roots, while vegetable weevils have greenish above-ground slug-like grubs that chew leaves like the adults.
Large weevils are similar. Catasarcus weevil larvae chew eucalypt roots, and Leptopius species (wattle pigs) chew acacia roots. Both pupate underground. This Foxypress recounts fossilised Leptopius pupal cases (clogs) that I found at Mukinbudin.
Large weevils are similar. Catasarcus weevil larvae chew eucalypt roots, and Leptopius species (wattle pigs) chew acacia roots. Both pupate underground. This Foxypress recounts fossilised Leptopius pupal cases (clogs) that I found at Mukinbudin.
 Fossilised pupal case (clog) |  Leptopius (wattle pig) adults |
Last spring I was on the hunt for an insect that causes a distinctive leaf damage, they make great photos when the sun is behind the leaf, and finally found the strange slug-like larva of Gonipterus eucalypt weevils. To discourage predators they exude a horrible oily liquid to cover their body and decorate it with their frass (poo). They still get parasitised.
 |  Gonipterus sp. weevil. Image Doug McDougie |
 Gonipterus larva underside |  Oily gunk it spreads on its back |  Frass covering on top |
Oxyops species weevils have similar larva but eat melaleucas.
 An Oxyops species |  another Oxyops species |  Polyphrades eucalyptus weevil |