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Species Larinus minutus - Seedhead Weevil

Representative Images

canada thistle bud weevil - Larinus planus? - Larinus minutus Larinus from Montana (1) 10.07.08 - Larinus minutus Larinus from Montana (2) 10.07.08 - Larinus minutus Larinus minutus or L. obtusus - Larinus minutus Larinus minutus Seedhead Weevil? - Larinus minutus Yard weevil 2 - Larinus minutus Curculionidae_Washington_24765 - Larinus minutus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Curculionoidea
Family Curculionidae (Snout and Bark Beetles)
Subfamily Lixinae
Tribe Lixini
Genus Larinus
No Taxon (subgenus Larinomesius)
Species minutus (Seedhead Weevil)

Other Common Names

Lesser Knapweed Flower Weevil

Explanation of Names

Larinus minutus Gyllenhal 1835

Size

4-5 mm

Identification

brown-grey weevil with a very large, bulbous snout... When the adults first emerge from the knapweed seedhead they are light grey with some yellow fuzz on their bodies.(1)

Range

native to Europe, introduced to the US (1991) to control knapweeds, established in WA-OR-MT(1)

Food

Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) and Diffuse Knapweed (C. diffusa)(1)

Internet References