Wildlife
The curious-looking giraffe weevil gets its name from its enormously long neck, which is 2-3 times longer in the males. They can use this extended neck to fight for the right to mate with a female. She, on the other hand, uses her smaller neck to roll a leaf tube nest into which a single egg is layed. One of the longest weevil species, male giraffe-necked weevils, as they're also known, grow to around 2.5cm in length. If a long neck and large size aren't enough to make this beetle stand out, its bright red wing covers certainly are. Giraffe weevils live in the warm climate of Madagascar, a large island off the east coast of Africa.
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Giraffe-necked weevils
While a female busily constructs an egg pouch, two males fight for the right to mate with her.
While a female busily constructs an egg pouch, two males fight for the right to mate with her.
The Giraffe weevil can be found in a number of locations including: Madagascar. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a weevil endemic to Madagascar. It derives its name from an extended neck much like that of the common giraffe. The giraffe weevil is sexually dimorphic, with the neck of the male typically being 2 to 3 times the length of that of the female. Most of the body is black with distinctive red elytra covering the flying wings. The total body length of the males is just under an inch (2.5 cm), among the longest for any Attelabid species. The extended neck is an adaptation that assists in nest building and fighting. When it comes time to breed, the mother-to-be will roll and secure a leaf of the host plant, Dichaetanthera cordifolia and Dichaetanthera arborea (a small tree in the family Melastomataceae), and then lay a single egg within the tube. She will then snip the roll from the remaining leaf in preparation of the egg hatching.
Another beetle with a similar common name is the New Zealand giraffe weevil, Lasiorynchus barbicornis. This is the longest weevil in the world, and is from the family Brentidae.
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Adapted to flying
Egg layer
Sexual dimorphism
Visual communication