Botany Bay weevil
The Botany Bay weevil is a black beetle covered in sparkly metallic green spots, like little jewels. It has a long curved snout. It was one of the very first Australian insects that scientists ever wrote about.
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Fun facts
It was collected in 1770 on Captain James Cook's first big voyage, as one of only five insects they brought back.
That very first weevil is still kept in the Natural History Museum in London.
Its grubs are bigger than the beetle, up to 5 centimetres long, white and wrinkly.
The mother bores up to 20 little holes in a wattle stem and puts one egg in each hole.
Beetles that come out later in summer are more blue than green.
Most asked questions about Botany Bay weevil
?Where does the Botany Bay weevil live?
In eastern and southern Australia, especially around Sydney.
?What does the Botany Bay weevil eat?
Only wattle plants, called Acacia. It has been found on 28 kinds of them.
?How big is the Botany Bay weevil?
It is 1.5 to 2.5 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chrysolopus spectabilis
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1775
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Curculionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Curculionidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Botany Bay diamond weevil, Botany Bay diamond beetle, Sapphire weevil
Where the facts come from
- Chrysolopus spectabilis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Quartl. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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