Giraffe weevil

Taxobox
name = Giraffe weevil


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Giraffe weevil
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Coleoptera
superfamilia = Curculionoidea
familia = Attelabidae
genus = "Trachelophorus"
species = "T. giraffa"
binomial = "Trachelophorus giraffa"
binomial_authority = Jekel, 1860

The giraffe weevil ("Trachelophorus giraffa") is a weevil endemic to Madagascar. It derives its name from an extended neck much like that of the common giraffe. The giraffe weevil is sexually dimorphic, with the neck of the male typically being 2 to 3 times that of the female. Most of the body is black with distinctive red elytra covering the flying wings. The total body length of the males is just under an inch (2.5 cm), among the longest for any Attelabid species. The extended neck is an adaptation that assists in nest building. When it comes time to breed the father-to-be will roll and secure a leaf of the host plant, "Dichaetanthera cordifolia" (a small tree in the family Melastomataceae), at which point the female will lay a single egg within the tube.

Another beetle with a similar name is the New Zealand giraffe weevil, "Lasiorynchus barbicornis". This is the longest weevil in the world, and is from the family Brentidae.