Weevils: the longest and smallest in the world
The weevil family has more species in it than any other group of organisms: about 50,000 species.- About 1,500 species are known in New Zealand, and 2 of them represent the longest species and the smallest species known in the world!
- The longest species is the giraffe weevil, Lasiorhynchus barbicornis, and it is up to 80 mm long.
- The smallest species is only 0.7-0.8 mm long! Myrtonymus zelandicus is a blind species living around the finer roots of all native species of Myrtaceae such as pöhutukawa, känuka, and mänuka, in the top 40 cm of the soil.
