A Year in the Valley

This weevil was really difficult to identify.  It resembles the pepper weevil, which isn’t resident in the UK.  But then I found the clover head weevil (Hypera meles).  It has a distinctive red/sepia colouring with pale stripes, which varies in intensity.  Very active in mid-summer it burrows into the soil on the warmest, driest days and goes dormant.  This process is called aestivation and is done to help insects, amphibians, and fish deal with hot and dry conditions to stop them from drying out.  The weevil then becomes active again in the autumn.  It lives in meadows where there is clover, we have clover on our pathways and on the bank of the stream.