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Red and Black Weevil from Madagascar

Submitted by Atropicbird on Mon, 2010-01-18 01:08

Hello,


I would like information regarding the identification of this (Apionidae?) weevil:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pix-diana/4237911619/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pix-diana/4238725436/


These photos were taken in the Masoala National Park, Madagascar, Nov. 1 2009.


At first I thought they were giraffe-necked weevils (Trachelophorus giraffa) because they have the same color pattern, but it was brought to my attention that the shapes of these are very different.


Thanks in advance,
Diana


 

Red and Black Weevil from Madagascar

Thu, 2010-01-21 19:51 — Chris Lyal

The weevil is an Apionid, Cybebus species (tribe Cybebini).  I think it is C. dimidiatus (Olivier, 1790) (also known as C. rufipennis Boheman, 1839).

Red and Black Weevil

Sat, 2010-01-30 01:10 — Atropicbird

Hi Chris,


Thank you so much for your identification of this weevil!  I am wondering why it's coloration and pattern are so similar to giraffe-necked weevils (Trachelophorus giraffa)?  Is there some sort of mimicry happening here?


Thanks again,


Diana

Red and Black weevil - aposematic?

Fri, 2010-02-05 21:12 — Chris Lyal

The quick (and, sadly, the long) answer is that I don't know.  A number of Attelabidae are red, at least in part, but I am unaware of any research on their palatability to predators.  It seems a reasonable suggestion, of course.  As for the Apionidae, this genus is pretty unique in having the colour pattern, and it is tempting to suppose a mimicry association.  However, without knowing if the attelabid is distasteful, the liklihood cannot be known.

Anybody know if Attelabidae are distasteful?

Chris

Attelabid distastefuness and mimicry

Wed, 2010-09-08 00:32 — hahiii

It's possible that attelabids are distasteful. Some species participate in a mimicry complex I've studied (Hespenheide, H.A. 1996. Clytrine chrysomelids as models of mimicry complexes. In, Chrysomelidae Biology, 2 Ecological Studies, P.H.L. Jolivet and M.L. Cox, eds., pp. 227-239. The Hague: SPB Academic Publishing.) and other North American species are entirely red.

Aposematism

Wed, 2010-02-24 00:30 — Atropicbird

Thanks, Chris, for your consideration of this question.  They were fun to find and photograph.


Diana

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