Talk:New Zealand giraffe weevil

Move request
This article's title isn't even correctly spelled! I've submitted a technical request that the page be moved from Lasiorhyncus barbicornis to New Zealand giraffe weevil, and we can set up redirects from both Latin name variants; I'd do it myself but there's currently a redirection page occupying the space. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 19:25, 24 March 2016 (UTC)

Brilliant, this has now been sorted by a helpful admin. I'll now set up a redirection from Lasiorhynchus barbicornis, the only one of the three Latin name variants that's correct. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 09:47, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Suggested edits by Chrissie Painting
Not 100% sure I'm going about this the right way, but I've just read over your fabulous improvements to the page and just had a couple of suggestions.
 * 1) Spelling error on line: "but it fact it belongs to the family Brentidae" - change first it to in
 * 2) "closely related species in Australia, Madagascar, and southern South America" - it is true that there are other Brentid weevils in these parts of the world, although the Fauna of NZ series by Kuschel (will send to Mike) suggests that the closest relatives of Lasiorhynchus are in Sulawesi, Australia, Vanuatu and Fiji. Could be worth changing this?
 * 3) " Females lay on a variety of trees, including kauri" - although it has been reported that this species lays eggs on kauri, I'm really doubtful of this. I have looked long and hard for them on kauri and never found any evidence of them using this species as a host tree. I suspect an adult was once found resting on a kauri tree and presumed to be using it as a host. I've got an updated list of host trees in my NZ J Zool paper if you wanted to check, but I think leaving the other ones you have listed is fine.
 * 4) "Adult giraffe weevils generally only live for two weeks, although one male was recorded as living at least 29 days" - I haven't published this yet as still a work in progress but I've done a few years of mark-recapture on these guys and found that it is true they probably have an average lifespan of several weeks, but sometimes live several months (my record is a female that I recaptured after 84 days).
 * 5) "as far south as Westland" - Recently a student at Lincoln Uni found one on a hut woodshed down in Fiordland on the Hollyford Track. Will email the paper.
 * 6) "feeding on dead wood with with the assistance of gut bacteria which digest cellulose." - I think it is likely they might be eating fungus instead of the wood itself. See Brenda May's Fauna NZ series for notes on a dissection done on a giraffe weevil larva. Will email paper.

Looking fantastic otherwise! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.92.212.46 (talk) 20:28, 24 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Those suggestions are all great, Chrissie. I'd caught the fungal diet reference in your paper and changed it. I'll make the rest of the changes; thanks so much for sending those papers through. Updating the information on lifespan has to wait until there's a published source we can cite (everything on Wikipedia has to be referenced, no unpublished research). I'll get to work. It's great when a subject expert can give feedback like this to help improve an article, Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 21:15, 24 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Righto, have made those edits as much as possible, added the references you supplied, and added two photos. The page is looking pretty good now! Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 08:55, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Behavioral Ecology 2024
— Assignment last updated by Gbuml (talk) 21:12, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Review for Behavioral Ecology
Hello! I just took a look at your article. It was very thorough. I particularly liked your use of videos to elucidate the weevil's behavior. I made a few minor changes that I thought would improve your article: I reworded parts of the physiology section to improve writing cohesion, and I added links to other Wikipedia sites. NHanselman (talk) 03:31, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

Peer Review 2: I really appreciate this articles clarity, and engaging writing. I found a couple grammatical areas that needed minor revision noting only a few areas for revision in the life cycle section so I fixed those. , particularly in the life cycle section. Also I added a more story-like approach to describing the mating aggression of the New Zealand giraffe weevil, just as I thought it would exemplify how interesting this process is. I also believe that the article covers a wide range of information effectively and maintains a factual tone without bias. If possible more visuals potentially on the life cycle would be great if we can find them! I truly think this article is on the edge of being good article status

I loved reading this article! I thought it was well-written and easy to understand, despite having so much information. I linked a couple terms that I thought an average reader may not understand, and I changed the heading from "Genetics" to "Genetic Distribution" because this section discussed the distribution of genetically distinct populations rather than focusing on any particular gene, so I thought this would be a more appropriate title. There were a lot of great visuals, but one of the images was in the References section, which I thought was awkward, so I moved it up. Otherwise, great work! Marbleparade (talk) 23:52, 21 March 2024 (UTC)