Poplar Leaf-rolling Weevil Byctiscus populi

The Poplar Leaf-rolling Weevil, Byctiscus populi, is a small and striking weevil belonging to the family Attelabidae, notable both for its vivid metallic colouration and its remarkable reproductive behaviour. Adults are a brilliant blue-green or coppery in colour, with a lustrous sheen that makes them among the more visually arresting of Britain’s weevil fauna. As the name suggests, the species is associated with poplar and aspen (Populus spp.), upon which females exhibit the characteristic leaf-rolling behaviour of the family – carefully cutting and rolling leaves into tight cigar-shaped tubes within which eggs are laid, and larvae develop. B. populi is a scarce species in Britain, most reliably found in association with aspen in open woodland, woodland edges, and carr habitats. It is considered a notable record and a useful indicator of sites supporting mature, well-established stands of its host trees. Image: © Ingeborg van Leeuwen, Flickr.

Find out more: iNaturalist, UK Beetle recording