A bulldozer of the Insect World

I have a certain fascination with Weevils. The large ones, such as this specimen, are easy to see, and relatively slow moving, so they are photographable. Just.

This one would walk relatively quickly from any leaf or branch on which I put it. So I resorted to putting it on my hand. Even then, it walked straight off the edge of my hand. I let it go, because it was so determined to escape.

 This is a Black Leaf-rolling Weevil

Black Leaf-rolling Weevil.

What surprised me about this specimen was that it lacked the long "nose" which I associate with Weevils. This Weevil has a double line of special reinforcing on the short "rostrum". It is clearly built for heavy-duty work. The antennae, come out from the "rostrum" in typical Weevil fashion. But the rostrum is very short, and heavy, with mouth parts very prominent.

Click to enlarge the head, rostrum and mouth parts.

Rostrum and mouth parts of Black Leaf-rolling Weevil

Here is a more usual Weevil, with a long rostrum.

I don't know exactly what the Weevil on today's story (in the first two photos) does with the leaves it apparently rolls, but it strikes me as being built like a virtual "bulldozer". That is especially true when comparing this heavy built insect with the Butterfly, from yesterday.

Botany Bay Diamond Weevil

Today I found a mating pair of the Botany Bay Diamond Weevil. Chrysolopus spectabilis.

UPDATE: I have been remiss in not checking my fellow Nature Bloggers enough. Duncan, at Ben Cruachan posted about this very same weevil on 22 January. Obviously our seasons are "in synch" at present.

In the distance, this is what I first saw.

Up close, this is what I saw. The colours are amazing.

A mating pair of Botany Bay Diamond Weevils

I took a front-on shot. 

You can see the interesting antennae on the male. 

They protrude from the "rostrum" which is the extended mouth structure,

(which looks to us like a nose - but it isn't.)

Note the antennae bent at right angles, That is normal.

The Chew Family website "Brisbane Insects and Spiders" tells me that: "This weevil is famous in Australia natural history because it was the first scientifically described Australian insect species." That's a claim to fame.

Tiny Black Weevil likes Watermelon

I have seen several of these tiny Weevils in recent weeks, but the other day one came to a large piece of Watermelon I had put out for the Bowerbirds.
During the afternoon, the birds were quiet, and my brother was still working on the back deck, so, naturally the birds waited - out of sight. This cleared the field for the insects to come in. This one is a Straight-snouted Weevil. It is tiny, about 4mm long.I have seen Weevils before, often quite large insects (over an inch long). But they all have the long "nose" (rostrum) with the two antennae coming off the rostrum well down along the length. A distinctive feature of Weevils.

Next there was a Brown Butterfly (sorry, not sure of the species) which had a lovely time bending its proboscis around, sucking up the juice from the little hollows in the Watermelon flesh. The spike on the right of the image is a screw acting as a spike, holding the fruit in place. You can see the fine antennae, with typical Butterfly "clubs" on the end of the antennae (one of the distinctive features of Butterflies - contrasted with moths).Last week I saw a number of wingless insects which were identified for me by Dr. Bronwen Scott ("Snail") as female Soldier Flies Boreoides subulatus .Well they were back again this week, and as I have a new Macro Lens, I thought I would try it out on getting an eye and antennae shot.

This shows clearly the two tiny antennae, and the large compound eyes typical of flies.

In case you are wondering, these insects wander round in April, on hard wooden surfaces (typically fence posts) looking for deep cracks and holes into which they insert their long tails (ovipositors) so they can lay their eggs there. They do not bite or sting, even though they look vaguely dangerous and certainly prehistoric. Bronwen's comment was that this species looks like it was "designed by a Committee". I agree.