Giraffe Weevil
The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a red-and-black beetle from Madagascar with a long neck, especially long in males. The neck is used in fights and in rolling leaves.
The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a red-and-black beetle from Madagascar with a long neck, especially long in males. The neck is used in fights and in rolling leaves.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Giraffe Weevil in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Neck for Fighting and Farming
Males use their necks in contests with rivals and when guarding females. Females, with shorter necks, cut and fold leaves of a tree called Dichaetanthera into a cigar-like roll in which the egg is laid, with the neck making a handy tool.
Sexual Selection
The exaggerated male neck is an example of a trait shaped by competition for mates. See Hercules Beetle.
Madagascar's Insects
The weevil lives in the rainforests of central Madagascar, where it is threatened by forest loss. See Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko.
Giraffe Weevil at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Trachelophorus giraffa |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Coleoptera |
| Family | Attelabidae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Hexapoda (Insects) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Endemic Malagasy leaf-roller with glossy scarlet wing covers and an extraordinarily elongated, hinged black prothorax and neck in males reaching two to three times the length of the females'. |
| IUCN Red List status | Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2021 |
| Family | Attelabidae |
| Range | Madagascar |
See Also
- Hercules Beetle — another beetle with exaggerated structures
- Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko — another Madagascar endemic