Diet

• Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves and tender plant tissues. Adults are generally found on low-growing vegetation.

• Larvae: Develop in the soil, where they feed on plant roots. The immature stages are rarely encountered because they remain underground.

• The species has a broad enough host range that it can occur on both wild vegetation and cultivated plants.

Range

• Tanymecus confusus is a broad-nosed weevil in the family Curculionidae, subfamily Entiminae, tribe Tanymecini. It is a valid species, originally described by Thomas Say in 1831.

• It has a broad distribution from the United States south through Mexico and Central America to Nicaragua.

• It is occasionally sighted in Zihua. The warm climate and abundant vegetation provide suitable habitat, although it is not one of the most conspicuous large weevils in the region.

Habitat

• Found in grassland, agricultural areas, woodland margins, scrub, gardens and other areas with low herbaceous vegetation.

• Mexican taxonomic work notes that adults of Tanymecus are generally collected on low herbaceous plants.

• Around Zihua, look carefully through low vegetation, grasses and plants along roadsides, clearings and forest margins, particularly during periods of active plant growth.

• Because the larvae live underground, areas with loose soil and established host plants are also important habitat.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in).

• Body broadly oval and robust, with a relatively short rostrum and elbowed antennae.

• Usually brown, greyish-brown or mottled, with fine scales covering much of the body.

• The subdued coloration provides effective camouflage against soil, dry leaves and vegetation.