Weevil puts in a welcome appearance in Worcestershire

DISCOVERY: The leaf-rolling weevil. Picture: Wendy Carter

Wood is primarily managed for butterflies

June 2011: A nationally rare beetle has been discovered in good numbers at a Worcestershire nature reserve.

The leaf-rolling weevil has been found at the Wildlife Trust's Trench Wood nature reserve between Droitwich and Worcester and its presence is testament to the management work the trust has been doing to benefit this and other insect species.

James Hitchcock, conservation officer for the trust at Trench Wood, said: We manage Trench Wood primarily for the butterfly population and have done a lot of work to widen the rides and ensure that suitable vegetation is available for them.

Aspen helps beetle survive
‘This particular weevil is the subject of a Biodiversity Action Plan to help numbers recover. It prefers to feed on aspen so we've deliberately left mature aspen along the side of rides to encourage suckers to regenerate in sunny positions.

‘Trench Wood was once owned by the Harris Brush Company and they had left a lot of aspen in the wood - which has obviously helped this beetle survive.

‘We've known that we had them on this reserve since at least the 1950s, as well as our Monkwood reserve on the other side of Worcester, but hadn't realised there were so many until this year.'

The weevil is only found in four woodlands in the West Midlands and, until now, Trench Wood was never considered to be particularly good for them. Following a recent survey, however, Warwickshire-based entomologist Steve Lane believes it is now the best site in the West Midlands by quite some way.

Wee neat, cigar-like rolls
Steve is carrying out research on the beetle to help guide management of Oversley Wood in Warwickshire.

The beetles are about 4mm in size and are a metallic green or coppery colour. The young feed on developing aspen leaves before constructing neat cigar-like leaf rolls in which to deposit their eggs. Larvae hatch after about a week and begin to feed on the decaying leaf.

Leaf rolls are produced throughout the summer with peak activity between June and July. he weevils that are active now are likely to be those that have over-wintered.