| Actual Image
Giraffe Weevil (16)
LordPotty
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1449 W: 146 N: 3764]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (12035) | Lasiorynchus barbicornis
Giraffe Weevil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Curculionoidea
Family: Brentidae
Subfamily: Brentinae
Genus: Lasiorynchus
Species: L. barbicornis
Lasiorynchus barbicornis, or the New Zealand giraffe beetle, is a straight-snouted weevil of the family Brentidae, endemic to New Zealand. It is New Zealand's longest beetle and the worlds longest weevil. Its Māori name, tuwhaipapa, derives from the Māori god of newly made canoes.
The snout is longer than the entire body, and there is a long antenna at the very tip. Females bore into rotting logs to lay eggs during October to March and the grubs remain there for up to two years, feeding on fungi and yeasts on the decaying wood. The hole the adult leaves as it emerges is not round, but perfectly square. The males, which can grow to nearly 10 cm, fight with their snouts when competing for territory. Adults can fly, but only live for two weeks.
The weevil pictured here is a female which has a much shorter snout than the male.
The male snout is nearly twice as long,with antennae that stick out sideways from the very tip like an old TV aerial.
I photographed this one a few years ago in the North Island,when I had just begun taking nature photos,and posted another similar shot of it at the time.
I thought it was due for a reappearance as it is a creature not very often seen.
Hope you like this oddity of the insect world.
Thanks for looking.
Cheers
Steve |
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