Lasiorynchus barbicornis

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Lasiorynchus barbicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Curculionoidea
Family: Brentidae
Subfamily: Brentinae
Genus: Lasiorynchus
Species: L. barbicornis
Binomial name
Lasiorynchus barbicornis

Lasiorynchus barbicornis, or the New Zealand giraffe beetle, is a straight-snouted weevil of the family Brentidae, endemic to New Zealand. It is New Zealand's longest beetle. Its Māori name, tuwhaipapa, derives from the Māori god of newly made canoes.

The snout is longer than the entire body, and there is a long antenna at the very tip. Females bore into rotting logs to lay eggs during October to March and the grubs remain there for up to two years, feeding on fungi and yeasts on the decaying wood. The hole the adult leaves as it emerges is not round, but perfectly square. The males, which can grow to nearly 10 cm, fight with their snouts when competing for territory. Adults can fly, but only live for two weeks.

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