Beetles have lived on Earth since long before the age of the dinosaurs....

Today we saw some sunshine here in deepest Kent and that encouraged me to walk with the camera for a couple of hours and see what, if anything was about.


The year has started with very quiet weather conditions after hearing on the news that we now know December was the coldest since 1890. We do seem to be making a habit of breaking records of late.


So, to the Beetles, or to be more correct 'Weevils'...


There are over 370,000 known species of beetle. The weevil family is one of the largest in the animal kingdom, with a huge number of species (there are more species of weevils in the UK than birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined). All weevils have a snout (known as a ‘rostrum') bearing their mouthparts.


The weevils I found today are tiny at 1.5-2.2mm. I think they are probably 'Protapion fulvipes' This is our most common and widespread species of Apionidae, being found throughout the British Isles.

A congregation of Weevils.