WELL-TRAVELLED WEEVIL

Common name: Botany Bay weevil Scientific name: Chrysolopus spectabilis The Botany Bay weevil doesn’t know it but it enjoys a unique place in Australian scientific history. A specimen collected in April 1770 during James Cook’s first voyage became the first insect from downunder to be described, five years later, by Dutch entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius. Despite its common name, it’s unlikely that Joseph Banks picked this fellow up anywhere near Botany Bay. According to the late CSIRO entomologist Doug Waterhouse — who, interestingly enough, helped invent Aerogard — the weather there in April would have been too cold and wet so our mate probably came aboard when the Endeavour made landfall in Cooktown. Typically found only on species of Acacia up and down Australia’s east coast, this flash looker (its specific name spectabilis means…

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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue #11.2 - 2020

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