Furcipus rectirostris

Apparently quite a scarce beetle that's associated with Bird Cherry.

When potting a moth that came to light at Cranwich Camp on 21st March 2025 I discovered this weevil in a pot with the moth. It's not plausible that it had got in with the moth without me seeing it, so how had it got there? I use different compartments of my camera bag to store potted specimens and empty pots, and I'd taken this pot from the supposedly empty pots. Had I put it back in the wrong compartment after potting it the previous time I was out? The previous time I'd used it was on 12th March when I was suction sampling at Wendling Beck.

I normally make a note of everything I pot at the time, but I don't have any notes of weevils I potted that day - all the specimens I'd noted down were accounted for. However, after a bit of memory-scraping I think I've worked out what happened. I had company on this occasion, so it was easier for me to miss noting something down at the time, and when writing up my notes I remember thinking, "didn't I find a weevil in the ivy?". With no note of it nor any weevil specimen I'd moved on assuming I'd failed to pot it or misremembered. I also recall that my bag got tipped up as it was put back in the car causing one specimen pot to fall to the ground (it was retrieved). I had noted down a bug which I couldn't find when I went through my specimens and I remember fearing that that had also dropped to the ground and been left there. In the end I found that it was still in my camera bag but had moved into the compartment with empty pots. In hindsight I'm sure that's what happened with this weevil too, it's just that the coincidence of me omitting to note it down at the time meant the record nearly got overlooked. A slightly unfortunately coincidence of mishaps, but balanced by the better fortune that it was still alive when I eventually discoverd it enabling me to get some live photos (it's a little unusual for small beetles to survive this long in a pot but I have had them survive much longer so not exceptional).

The ID was straightforward, aided by the double tooth and relatively straight rostrum. Bird Cherry grows abundantly at the site where I eventually concluded that I found it, and I believe it has previously been recorded very nearby.

Furcipus rectirostris showing front femur and rostrum from side, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 12th March 2025