Diet

• Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves, buds, shoots, bark, flowers or seeds, depending on the species.

• Larvae: Most commonly develop inside woody stems, roots, trunks, seeds or other plant tissues, where they feed as they grow.

• Many species are closely associated with particular trees, shrubs or other woody plants, although host relationships vary greatly throughout the subfamily.

Range

• Molytinae is a large and diverse subfamily of weevils (Curculionidae) occurring throughout much of the world, with particularly high diversity in tropical and subtropical regions.

• Mexico supports a rich molytine fauna, including numerous species in Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

• Around Zihuatanejo, molytine weevils are occasional to fairly common, although individual species can range from abundant to very rarely encountered.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, rainforest, woodland, scrub, forest edges, agricultural areas and secondary vegetation.

• Adults may be found on tree trunks, branches, foliage and fallen vegetation.

• Many larvae develop concealed within wood, roots, stems or seeds, so signs such as emergence holes and larval galleries can sometimes reveal their presence even when adults are not visible.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 3–30 mm (0.12–1.2 in), depending on species.

• Body shape varies considerably, from compact and robust to elongated forms.

• Most have a distinct rostrum (snout) and elbowed antennae, although the rostrum can be relatively short in some molytine groups.

• Colouration ranges from black, brown and grey to reddish or metallic, with many species having cryptic patterns that blend with bark.