Green nettle weevils

Not many butterflies on my transect today, but there were a few other mini-beasts. Like these green nettle weevils - Phyllobius pomaceus.  

Apparently they're only ever found on nettles - according to one website - but those I saw today were mostly on meadowsweet (though there were nettles nearby). But I've just noticed the same website says they are not much more than 1/8 inch long - which isn't what I was seeing.  And indeed the insect book shows them as being at least 3/8 inch.

So, some more googling was required.  It seems there are ten Phyllobius species in Britain, of which P pomaceus is the largest at about 9mm - 1/2 inch.  There is another important feature - a spur or tooth on the on the femur of each leg - which can be seen on the original full-sized pictures.

The author of the first website I looked at must have seen the small green nettle weevil, P. roboretanus which is only 3.5mm.

Incidentally, the name pomaceus refers to the colour, which can be apple-green.  The colour is in the scales, which wear off to reveal the black cuticle beneath.

The moral of the story is to check a number of websites, and come to your own conclusions when identifying mini-beasts.

Annie