The unique insect weevil giraffe is an unusual inhabitant of the earth, a celebrity in the animal world. The beetle gained incredible popularity due to its unusual structure. The abnormally long neck and awkward, bizarrely bent legs resembling the structure of the spider legs gave the insect an unusual look. A long-necked bug with brightly colored elytra looks like a fantastic alien creature.
This species of beetles was discovered in 2008. There is practically no information about him. The range of insects is quite small. However, scientists believe that the population is not at risk and is not on the verge of extinction. The natural enemies of the giraffe weevil have not yet been found.
Appearance of a giraffe weevil beetle
Let’s describe what a giraffe weevil looks like. The neck of the beetles is so long that it is sometimes longer than the body of insects. True, this remark is true only for males. The necks of the females are shorter than two to three times. Beetles grow up to 2.5 centimeters in length.
Beetles are painted in contrasting shades. They have a black body, paws and a head, and elytra shine bright red. Thanks to such a war paint they are hard to miss. Especially when they leave the trees, crawl, rest and bask in the sun, having got out onto the side of the road or open places.
origin of name
In the kingdom of mammals, there is one long-necked animal - a giraffe. By analogy with it (because of its colossally long neck), the beetle got its original name - giraffe weevil. Otherwise, there is nothing in common between a giraffe and an insect. Nature just once again surprised mankind with the skill to create incredible things. In Latin, its name sounds like Trachelophorus giraffa .
Distribution area
The homeland of the beetle is the island of Madagascar, located near the east coast of Africa. The insect lives on trees, in the dense forests that stretch the Ranomafana National Park. The island is isolated from the mainland by ocean waters that impede the spread of populations. By this, scientists explain the appearance of unusual creatures only on its territory.
The giraffe weevil beetle, apparently, like other Madagascar endemic species, is not able to overcome the water barrier, therefore it does not occur in any other corner of the world. Although there is evidence that a species of this bug was found in New Zealand. However, individuals living in Madagascar are much more beautiful and interesting.
Mating season and reproduction
If giraffes need a long neck to pluck leaves from trees, then bugs need it for completely different purposes. For males, an elongated neck is, in fact, a military weapon and a convenient tool for creating a “cradle” for a single cub.
In the mating season, the male, as expected, fights with rivals for the right to own the female. The lady of the heart patiently waits for the end of the battle between the applicants. She will lead offspring with the winner of the battle. Giraffe weevil never fights to death.
The male carefully folds the leaf, giving it the shape of a barrel. The female lays only one egg in this tube nest. Similar cask-barrels are made by other species of beetles belonging to the Attelabidae family. The peculiarity of forming houses for posterity served as the name of the family - pipelines. Next, we will tell you more about the classification.
Pipeline Family
The giraffe weevil belongs to the family of pipelines. Based on the name of the bug, it would be logical to include it in the family of weevils. However, it differs from representatives of this family.
And some confusion in the name and classification arose due to the fact that weevils are outwardly similar to individual pipelines. The giraffe weevil differs from individuals from the Curculionidae family in the shape of its head, pronotum, paws and mustache.
Power Features
In food, the giraffe weevil is very picky and picky. It can be called a gourmet. Individuals prefer to eat the leaves of two small trees - Dichaetanthera cordifolia and Dichaetanthera arborea , which spend most of their time.
They use the leaves of these same trees to build a house where the females will lay their eggs. At first, it was the cradle tube that provided food for the offspring. The females roll the barrel houses so that the cubs can receive food.