What is this thing?
October 25, 2009
I found this bug on the edge of my fishtank. It is now October 25th.
Tree C.
Central Florida

Nut or Acorn Weevil, we believe

Hi Tree C.,
This is a Weevil, a member of the largest family of Beetles.  Often exact identification from a photo is impossible.  That said, we believe this is a Nut Weevil or Acorn Weevil in the Tribe Curculionini.  There are several images that look similar on BugGuide, but they are not identified to the species level.

Nut Weevil or Acorn Weevil, probably

Beetles Eating My Jamaica Dogwood
August 24, 2009
I was planning on using insecticide to control them ( between these, mealy bugs, and a massive scale infestation I’m getting desperate) but while I was taking these photos a Dingy Purplewing butterfly landed on the tree so I may just have to learn live with them.
Tad
Cutler Bay, FL

Little Leaf Notcher Weevil

Hi Tad,
We are relatively certain that this is a Little Leaf Notcher Weevil, Artipus floridanus.  We did a web search of “white weevil florida and were quickly led to a BugGuide page.

Little Leaf Notcher Weevil

I didn’t realize it was a weevil, I kept looking at leaf beetles.
After a closer look it turns out to be this weevil:
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/02/23/little-leaf-notcher-weevil-invasive-species-from-sri-lanka/
According to this document ” http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/entcirc/ent412.pdf ” many of the host plants are in my yard.
Thanks again

Wood carved and glittered weevil
July 13, 2009
Hi bugman-
I recently went to Costa Rica for my honeymoon (6/21-6/28) and came back with tons of pictures…of insects. I thought I’d share these pictures of a weevil I saw one night climbing up a wall. We were on our way to dinner, camera in tow, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a glittering green, gingerly moving splotch. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was a beetle. This little dude looks like someone carved him out of wood and then had their child sprinkle a spring shade of glitter all over its back. He didn’t want to stay too still, but decided that he’d pose for a couple of shots…hope you like him.
insect fan
Costa Verde, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil perhaps

Dear insect fan,
We are a bit stumped by your weevil, and we hope one of our readers will be able to assist in the identification.  It really does look like it has been embellished with glitter.  We do know that in certain places in Central America, insects are used as living jewelry.  Sometimes beautiful insects are just affixed to small chains and pinned to clothing.  Other times insects may be painted or bejeweled. This image does almost look to “glittery” to be natural.

Update
Unknown weevil Costa Rica
July 17, 2009
Hi WTB!!
I have a photo of a weevil as my screensaver that looks a lot like the glittery weevil you are having trouble identifying. I took the photo from one of your reader’s website. You can view more photos of the weevil there. Father Sanchez has it listed as Polydrusus and he is located in Puerto Rico. http://www.kingsnake.com/westindian/
Keep up the great work!
Andrea with the anatomically correct butterfly tattoos Hollywood, CA
Puerto Rico

Hi Andrea,
How nice to hear from you again.  We have also had email exchanges with Father Sanchez.  We love his website.  We are linking to BugGuide’s page on the Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil, a European species that has naturalized in North America.  Though we are inclined to agree that this weevil and our Costa Rican Weevil look the same, we would really like to get an expert opinion on that.  Thanks so much for providing this information.

Update from Karl
August 6, 2009
Catching up on weevils (3 in 1 – sorry about that)
Hi Daniel:
The first part of this is just FYI – a great internet resource. I found a little time to go back and catch up on some wonderful weevils that caught my attention as they were posted.  One of my favorite resources for this sort of thing is the digitized version of the Biologia Centrali-Americana (58 volumes!). It is a little difficult to navigate through, but what an incredible storehouse of information! The volumes on insects were originally produced between 1879-1915, but they still stand up as an incredible body of work. The two Costa Rican weevils were identified from this site. Cheers.  K

Daniel:
The Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil (Polydrusus sericeus) is a relatively tiny (5-7 mm) weevil accidentally introduced from Europe. Although it has become wide spread in North America (I have seen quite a few this year on the Canadian prairies), I don’t know if it has made it as far south as Costa Rica. I think this gorgeous creature is actually in the genus Exophthalmus (a reference to those big, bugged-out eyes?), and the species is probably E. carneipes (Curculionidae: Entiminae).  At 9-12 mm it is roughly twice as large and could certainly catch someone’s attention climbing up a wall. I couldn’t find out much about the species, other than that it occurs in Costa Rica and Panama. A great find and a very nice photo from “insect fan”.  There is another very nice image of the same (unidentified) weevil here.
Regards.
Karl

Beetle my friend photographed
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Hello,
My friend posted a picture of this beetle she came across and was curious as to what kind it is. Found in their house in Orlando, FL.
James
Orlando, FL

Diaprepes Root Weevil

Dear James,
Your friend has photographed the invasive exotic Diaprepes Root Weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus. Though it is beautiful, this Caribbean native has naturalized in Florida “where it has become a serious pest especially of citrus and woody ornamentals” according to BugGuide. BugGuide goes on to report: “The California Dept. of Food & Agriculture has issued a flyer containing the following information: ‘The weevil was accidentally introduced into Florida in the 1960s and caused extensive damage. It has been intercepted in shipments of plants to California.’ Said to feed on some 270 different plants, it’s described as ‘a significant threat to both urban and agricultural trees and plants.’”
“

Brilliant
Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 10:32 AM
This impressive colorful bug was found in a park , near home, where a i use to make some shots of bugs.. Lokkas a weevil, any could say more?
Thanks a lot
Brutamonte
Brazil

Unknown Blue Weevil

Dear Brutamonte,
We believe we have received an image of this gorgeous blue Weevil from Brazil at least once before, but we were not successful in properly identifying it. We do know that it is a Weevil, a type of Beetle. Hopefully, one of our readers will be able to assist us in a proper identification.

Unknown Blue Weevil

Update:
Actually the Weevil we posted in January 2008 is a very different Blue Species.

Update: Unknown Blue Weevil from Brazil
Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Hi Daniel:
You would think that such a striking creature would be relatively easy to track down – but not so. The weevils are a truly enormous and diverse family of coleopterans and, as often happens in taxonomy, the position and naming of this one has changed a bewildering number of times. Thanks to several wonderfully descriptive accounts from the 1800s, the golden age of bug collection, I was able to follow a trail forward that led to the modern genus Ericydeus (Curculionidae : Polydrosinae: Naupactini). There are approximately 16 species in the genus, 2 from North America and the rest from Central and South America. I believe Brutamorte’s weevil is E. sedecimpunctatus, based on early descriptions and reported distribution (throughout central Brazil), but I can’t be certain. The link provided is for a closely related species, E.  schonherri; a specimen collected in French Guyana. Regards.
Karl
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.entomoservice.com/igalerie_1.0.5/%3Fimg%3D952&prev=/search%3Fq%3DEricydeus%26start%3D40%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Update from Karl
August 6, 2009
Catching up on weevils (3 in 1 – sorry about that)
Hi Daniel:
The first part of this is just FYI – a great internet resource. I found a little time to go back and catch up on some wonderful weevils that caught my attention as they were posted.  One of my favorite resources for this sort of thing is the digitized version of the Biologia Centrali-Americana (58 volumes!). It is a little difficult to navigate through, but what an incredible storehouse of information! The volumes on insects were originally produced between 1879-1915, but they still stand up as an incredible body of work. The two Costa Rican weevils were identified from this site. Cheers.  K

Re: Unknown Blue Weevil from Brazil (Brilliant) – Feb 13, 2009
I didn’t plan to revisit this one, but I have another update (or perhaps and alternate identification). I stumbled upon this image of a weevil specimen from the Natural History Museum in Vienna and it appears to be the very same as the one posted by Brutamonte. The name is given as Polyteles coelestina (Curculionidae: Entiminae). Unfortunately, I was unable to find any more information about it and I am not fully convinced that the identification is correct. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that an old museum specimen was misidentified. Regards.
Karl

Ugly Bug
Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 5:59 AM
What kind of bug is this? Is it dangerous? I found it indoors about a week ago in our living room, on our couch.
Mr.
oklahoma city, ok

Acorn Weevil

Hi Mr,
This is an Acorn Weevil in the genus Curculio which can be verified on BugGuide. The snout is quite distinctive for Nut Weevils and Acorn Weevils.