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LEAF-ROLLING WEEVILS

ATTELABIDAE

ttelabidae, like Anthribidae, Brentidae,

Belidae, and Nemonychidae, belong to the

group of primitive weevils marked by having

straight antennae. They are a relatively small

group, but have a long fossil history dating back to

the Early Cretaceous. The concept of Attelabidae

featured here includes the closely related

family

Attelabidae (including Rhynchitinae)

known species

2,500

distribution

Worldwide except Antarctica

habitat

Forests, temperate open woodland to

tropical rainforest

size

2.5–20 mm

diet

Plant tissue, larvae on recently dead leaves

(in leaf rolls) or living buds and fruits. Adults

eat leaves, in some species by scraping off

the epidermis

notes

Some species of attelabids, such as

the European Lasiorhyncites sericeus

(Rhynchitinae), do not make their own leaf

rolls, but their larvae live as “inquilines,” or

parasites, in the rolls made by other species,

in this case the Oak Leaf-roller Attelabus

ATTELABIDAE—Leaf-Rolling Weevils

Rhynchitinae, which are treated by some specialists

as a separate family.

Some members of both subfamilies are

remarkable for their leaf-rolling habits. The adult

female partially cuts a living leaf that is still

attached to the tree and folds it into an intricate

cigar-shaped leaf roll, in which she lays a single egg.

A