# Giraffe Weevil — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Trachelophorus giraffa (Pascoe, 1860) — family Attelabidae*

> The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a beetle endemic to Madagascar whose male has a neck two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and for rolling leaves into nest tubes; it is Least Concern but loses forest to tavy and charcoal production as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original cover has been lost.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern — restricted to Madagascar but not currently assessed as threatened  ·  **WARN range:** Madagascar, Eastern humid forest

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Male neck | Two to three times longer than female's |
| Nest | Single egg in a rolled leaf tube |
| Colour | Black with red elytra covering wings |
| Habitat | Eastern humid forest, Madagascar |
| Endemism | Madagascar only |
| Main threats | Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Arthropoda
- **Class:** Insecta
- **Order:** Coleoptera
- **Family:** Attelabidae
- **Genus:** Trachelophorus
- **Species:** Trachelophorus giraffa

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Least Concern
- **Population:** No estimate; common in remaining eastern forest
- **Trend:** Unknown; likely decreasing with forest loss
- **Assessed:** Not formally assessed on IUCN — treated as Least Concern by range
- **CITES:** Not listed
- An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Least Concern reflects current abundance, not long-term security.

## Key facts: Giraffe Weevil
- The giraffe weevil is endemic to Madagascar — a black attelabid beetle with extreme neck dimorphism.
- The male's elongated prothorax is two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and nest-building.
- Females lay a single egg inside a leaf tube that the male or female cuts and rolls from a living leaf.
- Madagascar's invertebrate fauna is as distinctive as its vertebrates — part of the island's isolation story.
- An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; eastern humid forest is the giraffe weevil's habitat.
- Tavy and charcoal production are driven by rural poverty — forest loss threatens even Least Concern endemics over time.

## Why the male neck is so long
Sexual selection, not feeding. The giraffe weevil's elongated prothorax is a weapon and a tool. Males fight by grappling with their necks, attempting to flip rivals off branches. Longer necks win more fights and gain more mating opportunities.

The neck also assists in leaf rolling — the nest-building behaviour that gives the family Attelabidae its common name, leaf-rolling weevils. A male may help cut and roll a leaf into a tube, though the female completes the nest and lays inside it. The dimorphism is among the most extreme in beetles: males and females look like different species until you know what to check.

## The leaf-roll nest
A female giraffe weevil selects a living leaf on a forest tree and cuts it so it curls into a tight tube. She lays a single egg inside, and the larva develops within the rolled leaf, feeding on the interior tissue before pupating and emerging as an adult.

The nest ties the species to intact forest with suitable host plants — typically trees in the family Dalrymplea and related genera in eastern humid forest. Clear the forest for tavy or charcoal and you remove both the trees and the humidity the leaf rolls need to persist. A beetle that builds its nursery inside a living leaf cannot reproduce in a cassava field.

## Madagascar's invertebrate endemism
Visitors focus on lemurs, but Madagascar's invertebrates are equally irreplaceable. The giraffe weevil is one of hundreds of endemic beetles, and the island's isolation produced radiations in butterflies, moths, stick insects and cockroaches found nowhere else.

Roughly 90% of Madagascar's vertebrates are endemic; invertebrate endemism is similarly high though less catalogued. Losing forest does not only remove lemurs — it removes the leaf-rolling beetles, the comet moths and the hissing cockroaches that evolved in the same isolation. Every tavy fire and charcoal kiln takes species that have no backup population anywhere on Earth.

## Forest loss and the poverty context
The giraffe weevil is Least Concern because it remains common in surviving eastern forest. That is not the same as secure. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest cover has been lost, and eastern humid forest continues to shrink.

Tavy clears land for subsistence crops when families have no other income. Charcoal production removes living trees for cooking fuel when alternatives are unaffordable. These are poverty-driven pressures, not moral failures by subsistence farmers. Conservation that protects giraffe weevils protects the forest blocks where they nest — the same forest lemurs, fossas and leaf-tailed geckos depend on.

## What WARN does
WARN publishes free, sourced species education across Madagascar's fauna, including the invertebrates tourists photograph but rarely understand. The giraffe weevil nests in leaves on trees that tavy and charcoal production remove — on an island where an estimated 80–90% of original forest is already gone.

If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.

## Frequently asked questions: Giraffe Weevil
### Why does the male giraffe weevil have a long neck?
Sexual selection. Males fight by grappling with their necks, and longer necks win more fights. The neck is also used in leaf-roll nest construction. It is two to three times longer than the female's.

### How does the giraffe weevil nest?
The female cuts and rolls a living leaf into a tube and lays a single egg inside. The larva develops within the leaf roll before pupating.

### Where do giraffe weevils live?
Eastern humid forest in Madagascar only. They are endemic to the island and depend on intact forest with suitable host trees.

### Are giraffe weevils endangered?
Listed Least Concern, but an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Eastern forest continues to shrink through tavy and charcoal production.

### Are giraffe weevils related to giraffes?
No. The name describes the male's elongated neck through convergent appearance. Giraffe weevils are beetles in the family Attelabidae.

### Are giraffe weevils dangerous?
An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and while the species is listed Least Concern because it remains widespread in eastern humid forest, that listing describes current range rather than trajectory. Give wild giraffe weevils space; do not corner or handle them.

### How long do giraffe weevils live?
A precise wild lifespan for giraffe weevils is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a beetle endemic to Madagascar whose male has a neck two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and for rolling leaves into nest tubes; it is Least Concern but loses forest to tavy and charcoal production as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original cover has been lost.

### How big is a giraffe weevil?
A Giraffe Weevil is about 2–3× (Male neck length relative to the female's). The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a beetle endemic to Madagascar whose male has a neck two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and for rolling leaves into nest tubes; it is Least Concern but loses forest to tavy and charcoal production as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original cover has been lost. Conservation status: Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production.

### What do giraffe weevils eat?
The giraffe weevil is one of hundreds of endemic beetles, and the island's isolation produced radiations in butterflies, moths, stick insects and cockroaches found nowhere else. The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a beetle endemic to Madagascar whose male has a neck two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and for rolling leaves into nest tubes; it is Least Concern but loses forest to tavy and charcoal production as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original cover has been lost.

## Sources
- [GBIF — Trachelophorus giraffa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4990680)
- [Encyclopedia of Life — Trachelophorus giraffa](https://eol.org/pages/345086)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/giraffe-weevil