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Project Noah Nature School
Gonipterus sp.
About 12mm long. Clutching onto a eucalyptus stem. There was one at each leaf axil hanging on for dear life.
In local school grounds at midday.
A favourite weevil genus.
Could be Gonipterus gibberus or Gonipterus scutellatus and there seems to be confusion with images on the web. This one has a pale flash behind the head and onto the abdomen but I have yet to find a reliable description which includes that feature. Wikipedia says of G scutellatus "This weevil is greyish-brown with a light coloured transverse band." but there is no obvious band on their specimen on the same page. The reference at SA Government shows this one as G scutellatus.
family: CURCULIONIDAE
tribe: Gonipterini
genus: Gonipterus
species: Gonipterus scutellatus
Distribution in Australia... http://spatial.ala.org.au/?q=lsid:%22urn...
Both adults and larvae feed on Eucalyptus leaves particularly favouring E globulus and E viminalis.
It is sometimes a major pest in countries other than Australia where eucalypts are grown as plantation trees.
Spotted on Feb 16, 2014
Submitted on Feb 16, 2014
3 Comments
Yours is so pink! I found a species of Gonipterus at a school as well :) Smart little ones!
Thanks Mac. There seems to be a stuff-up building with species ID's for these. Staying with sp. for the time being.
Nice one Mark