100 Species #80: Clay-colored weevil

I found this clay-colored weevil Otiorhynchus singularis in the dirt by our raspberry bushes.

An alternate common name is "raspberry weevil" which seems pretty apt, but these non-flying beetles also feed on other plants like pear and rhododendron. They spend the day buried in soil, as I found it, and at night ascend the plant to feed on leaves and buds. In commercial raspberry operations they can be serious pests. These weevils are native to Europe, but have become established in eastern North America. The clay-colored weevil is capable of sexual reproduction, but most individuals are female and parthenogenesis is more common.

In April of last year, I posted a close relative, the black vine weevil as a 50 more urban species entry.


That's pretty clay-colored, all right.

3:00 snapshot #782

Alexis is proud of her replanting/mulching, but she scratched herself on the wire fencing.