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sl8

(13,786 posts)
Tue Apr 10, 2018, 10:57 AM Apr 2018

The Giraffe Necked Weevil





From http://www.madamagazine.com/en/der-giraffenhalskaefer/
The Giraffe Necked Weevil

One of the most famous, but also most bizarre bugs of Madagascar can be found in the eastern rainforests of the islands: Due to its longs neck, it is called giraffe necked weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa). The best time and places to find it are the national parks of Andasibe-Mantadia, Marojejy and Ranomafana in spring.


Sketch in a book from 1883 (Insects abroad by Wood)

In 1860, the French entomologist Henri Jekel discovered these bugs yet during an expedition to Madagascar. He gave the giraffe necked weevil its name and described its appearance for the first time. Since this time, the weevil has never been found in another place than Madagascar, which means it’s endemic.

Giraffe necked weevils can grow up to a maximum of 25 mm, thus they belong to the largest species among the leaf-rolling weevils (Attelabidae). The body is black, only the bright red or orange coloured wing sheaths leap to the eye and serve as warning coloration to scare predators off.

You can easily differentiate males and females: The male has a distinctly longer neck, which makes almost the half of its total length. The whole life of these small animals is bound to only two small growing trees, Dichaetanthera arborea and cordifolia. Both belong to the Melastomes, look more bush like and wear finely haired, green leaves. During their whole lifecycle of estimated one year, the giraffe necked weevils never go to far away from their trees. It is assumed they feed on leaf sap, but noone did researches on this topic yet.

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