A Wonderful Weevil in Indonesia - Observation of the Week, 1/25/22

Our Observation of the Week is this weevil (likely in the genus Cercidocerus), seen in Indonesia by @janusolajuanboediman!

Currently at National Taiwan University where he’s studying for his bachelor’s degree in entomology, Janus Olajuan Boediman was born and raised in Indonesia and credits his mother for cultivating his already burgeoning interest in spiders and insects. “My mom bought me books and although I couldn’t understand them at the time [because I didn’t read English], the images in those books made me love those critters more,” he recalls. 

First it was just spiders, then it spread to arthropods, and eventually reptiles and amphibians along with all sorts of other animals and eventually nature as a whole. I like all animals, but the three I mentioned first (Arthropods, Reptiles, Amphibians) will always be my favourites. I’m always more interested in the ones most people find disgusting or weird.

I’m not sure if “disgusting” or “weird” describes the beetle you see above (I think is beautiful), but Janus tells me it was one of many arthropods he photographed at Cibodas Botanical Garden while on a family vacation just over two years ago. “Of course I couldn’t resist looking around and seeing what arthropods I could find,” he explains.

Like other “true” weevils (Family Curculionidae), members of the genus Cercidocerus have distinctive snouts with antennae protruding from either side. In general, adults weevils use this snout to eat vegetation and/or bore into a stem or seed where their eggs will be laid. 

While he’s known about iNaturalist for a few years now, Janus (above) only joined on January 10th of this year and he’s been uploading quite a few of his older photos such as this one. He was a little hesitant about sharing locations for some observations until he found out about iNat obscuration functionality and says he uses iNaturalist for several reasons.

The big benefit is of course being able to contribute as a citizen scientist, helping with records of species that may lack photographs. iNaturalist participation is very much lacking in Indonesia and I’ve found that some of the organisms I’ve uploaded have very few iNat observations or even none at all. Also of course helps me get ID help on things I’ve found and in the process I learn more myself. My observations could also help other people ID things they’ve seen, especially if there is a lack of online photos of that organism.

I’m not doing any sort of research but I always try and photograph anything when out in nature. I’m still deciding on where I want to focus in the future, since entomology is so diverse and there are many exciting options.

- Coleopterist @anncabras24 (who specializes in weevils) was featured in an Observation of the Week last year!

- Take a gander at the remarkably diverse weevil observations on iNat.

- Here’s some pretty cool footage of acorn weevil. 

Posted on Ιανουάριος 25, 2022 0452 ΜΜ by tiwane