Scarce Fungus Weevil - Few new close ups added

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Tue May 20, 2014 12:19 pm

Found it, thanks guys on Flickr!

It's a Scarce Fungus Weevil - Platyrhinus resinosus. (But I still like the name "big hairy dog faced beetle"!)

I've been trawling the internet for ID help but I'm stuck on this, interesting looking beetle, dark charcoal colour with brown marks, and a whitish splotch underneath towards the tail. Very distinctive hairy face.

(At least I'm presuming it's a beetle, it walked like a beetle, and it played dead when I tried to catch it, unfortunately for it, it was on a path so the usual 'fall into the undergrowth' trick didn't work, it just sat there!!

Any ID tips hugely appreciated, I'm unusually stuck on this one!

ETA. Beetle is approx 12mm long, but it's face is held downwards, it looks like it could bend it's head up and be a couple of mm longer. Shot is with OM38/2.8, Zerene composite of 25 slices.

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Thu May 22, 2014 5:21 am

Such interesting hair. Looks all matted down.

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Fri May 23, 2014 9:17 am

Thanks for the comment! Yes very 'hairy' (in reality, scaly) face.

A few more shots from this interesting subject:

(Olympus 38mm/f2.8 macro bellows lens at f2.8, 76 slices)

Notice the two little blobs on the 'neck' by the white patch of scales?

(Nikon 40x ELWD, 97 slices)

Sorry still some crud on the foot, I spent ages physically cleaning this and a long time in post processing cleaning it up more, but there's still a bit more I should clean up:

(Nikon 10x CF-N plan, 65 slices)

Nice pattern of scales by the eye:

(149 slices, I -think- with the Nikon 10x CF-N Plan)

Finally I found these on the side, oh dear my weevil is infested with crabs! (Well, mites)

(116 slices with the Nikon 10x/CF-N plan)

All composited with Zerene, mostly a mix of PMAX/DMAP

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:23 am

Nice work. What makes them scales? They look like hair to me. On the weevil I have photographed there were definitely scales on the body.

rovebeetle · Post by **rovebeetle** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:55 pm

Laurie, these "blobs" as you call them are mites. Don't know exactly but most commonly these are phoretic mites (using the beetle as a means of transportation). But they might as well be parasites.