Canada Thistle Bud Weevil

Larinus planus

"Larinus planus" is a species of true weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed Canada thistle. The name has been recently changed to "Larinus carlinae". The adult weevil is dark brown or black with light colored mottled hairs on its body. It is about 7-8 millimeters long.
Larinus planus Animal,Animalia,Arthropoda,Bulgaria,Canada Thistle Bud Weevil,Coleoptera,Curculionidae,Curculionoidea,Europe,Geotagged,Insect,Insecta,Larinus planus,Snouth beetle,Summer,True weevil,Vitosha Mountain Nature Park,Wildlife

Distribution

This weevil is native to Central and Eastern Europe. It was first accidentally introduced to the United States in the 1960s. The first published record is from Maryland in 1971. It was subsequently evaluated as a biocontrol agent in 1990 and redistributed across a wide range of the Great Plains and western States.
Small greenish weevils I think these are likely to be an insect that was introduced to control Canadian thistle, but has now spread to native thistles... Geotagged,Larinus planus,Summer,United States

Food

In 2000, it was found feeding on "Cirsium undulatum" var. "tracyi", a sparsely distributed thistle native to western Colorado and eastern Utah. Subsequent research determined that the weevil reduced seed production of the native thistle.

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderColeoptera
FamilyCurculionidae
GenusLarinus
SpeciesL. planus
Photographed in
Bulgaria
Netherlands
United States of America