COLEOPTERA > POLYPHAGA > CURCULIONOIDEA > Anthribidae

Unfortunately, to maintain the correct taxonomic order of these species, I had little option other than to shoe-horn this particular page into the weevil's section, as the individuals featured below were found after the following write-ups were initially published and, even though the CURCULIONOIDEA superfamily is introduced on the next page, it was important that the Anthribidae (Fungus weevils) were the first described species..

As their common name suggests, most species in this family are associated with fungus or decaying wood.

Although ten species are listed, one is almost certainly extinct and a further three are very rare. And, out of the remaining seven species, there's probably only four that are likely to be found in my area. In fact, when I look at the current data on the NBN Atlas, there are less than 50 records from Dorset (VC9) and South Hampshire (VC11) combined over the past twenty plus years, and virtually all of those confirmed sightings are of just two species Platyrhinus resinosus and Platystomos albinus. Both are categorised as 'nationally scarce', although fairly common in some areas.

Platystomos albinus is a very distinctive beetle, most likely to be encountered in established mature woodland typical of that found in much of the New Forest. I was rather pleased to find a pair, and initially assumed that the slightly larger light-brown individual was the female, and that the difference in colour helped distinguish the sexes, but I was wrong. In fact, although the male is normally smaller than the female, that's not the case here as the male can be clearly identified by its very long antennae, much longer than the female's. And, as for the colour, it's actually variable in both sexes from fawn or light-brown through to dark brown or grey.

New family added, Dec.23 (v.1)