For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Pink-banded Weevil

These weevils polyclaeis equestris (family Curculiondae) are extremely hard to get to as they hide away in the Acacia thorn trees as seen in the first picture.

These are about 1 inch in length and are eaten by the local people in some areas. I found this mating pair, but while watching them, discovered something very interesting.
Usually the male is on top of the female, but this was not the case with them, here the female was on top.
The female would bring the egg to the top of her ovipositer, the male would fertilize it, and then she would take it back inside her again. This happened four or five times. Now I am not sure if it was the same egg every time, or different ones. Maybe someone with more knowledge can tell us more of what was happening?

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