Weird and wonderful wildlife

There are some curious creatures that keep us guessing, as Charlie Elder reports in the first of two features looking at a mixed bunch of species that are anything but ordinary

Nature does throw up some weird and wonderful surprises – eccentric oddities that stand out in appearance as anything but the norm and leave us scratching our heads with the question: what on earth is that?

For some species the over-the-top physical adaptations help ensure survival, either as camouflage or to ward off predators. For others their fantastical and outlandish looks have evolved to aid feeding, breeding or to impress potential mates and repel rivals.

This week and next I’ll share a few of the more bizarre species one might come across in the South West and beyond – a veritable cabinet of curiosities...

ACORN WEEVIL

WHAT is one to make of this cute and curious little critter? Only a few millimetres long, the acorn weevil has the most preposterous looking elongated snout, giving it the appearance of a mini-anteater or a surreal character from a children’s book.

It is mostly found in southern, central and eastern England, but has been recorded in some locations in the South West, so keep your eyes peeled in midsummer. You get an idea of how small they are from this captivating macro picture by wildlife photographer Timothy Sexton of one balanced on an acorn.

The reason for the long snout – known as a rostrum and featuring mouthparts at the end – is to chew a channel into an acorn into which eggs are laid. The larvae hatch and feed on the acorn and when it falls to the ground they eventually bore their way out, burying into the soil where they can remain for many months before emerging as adults. Given the damage they cause to acorns, which fail to germinate once damaged by larvae, they can be considered a pest in some oak woodlands.

Timothy Sexton www.sextonbeetle.com > The rather comical looking acorn weevil