Red Weevil - Rhinotia haemoptera

Family BELIDAE

This page contains information and pictures about Red Weevil Beetles that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.


Body length 20mm

This is the Belid Beetle that mimics Lycid Beetle. The brick-red and black colours of of Lycid Beetle are a warning to predators that the beetle is highly toxic and distasteful. Many other insects includes this weevil, mimic its colours.



On Oct 2004, in White Hill, we found this beetle the first time on a young Acacia tree. It was slow moving, did not even fly away when we came very close.



This beetle can be found on different species of Acacia trees. They are quite common in Brisbane Eucalypt forest.



The weevil is slow moving, will drop onto the ground if disturbed. They are not the good flier. Females lay eggs on the underside of Acacia branches. Larvae hatch and chew their way into the stem.



The above mating photos were taken in Daisy Hill during early summer Sep 2008. A few males around a female was fighting for the mating right.

Reference:
1. Beetles of Australia - Trevor J Hawkeswood, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1987, p124.
2. Australian Weevils - Zimmerman, E.C., CSIRO PUBLISHING, 1991, Plate 35.