Lasiorhynchus barbicornis
The most extraordinarily fantastical looking giraffe weevil could easily have been inspiration for a Star Wars creature. It deserves a much wider audience of admirers.
NZ’s longest beetle, the male giraffe weevil comes in at up to 90mm long. He has an elongated snout (or rostrum) which can account for nearly half his body length. The males use their rostrums like medieval lances to battle over females (only half their size), in a style that has been dubbed “snout-walloping”. These fierce battles are vicious, with the loser often being flung from a tree with limbs missing.
However, a canny and often very much smaller male might still win the day by mating with females through a process known as ‘sneaking’ copulation, a technique in which he flattens himself underneath the female and mates while trying to avoid being seen by a larger male.
The female then lays eggs in tree trunks and when hatched, larvae tunnel into wood for at least two years before emerging as adults in spring and summer. They are most abundant in February, and are often found on sap bleeds or sawdust at the bottom. As adults, they live for only a few weeks. They are found in the forests of the North Island, and more rarely in lowland forests of the western South Island.
Māori called these insects pepeke nguturoa (long-beaked beetle), and also honoured them with the name tuwhaipapa/tuwhaitara (God of newly made canoes).
Such a star, the giraffe weevil name has even been subject to identity theft by the so-called giraffe weevil of Madagascar. It’s not a relative, just a wannabe.
What’s not to impress about our Giraffe Weevil!
Check these links for more info on the Giraffe Weevil in NZ
Wikipedia: Information on Lasiorhynchus barbicornis
YouTube Video: Stealth helps little giraffe weevils get the girl | Science News
images
Click on the image to visit the official iNaturalist.nz observation.
colouring page
