The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
Until recently only known in Britain from Cornwall, but now discovered in Devon.
Regional Distribution
Originally discovered at Whitsand Bay in east Cornwall (Clark, 1906), most subsequent records have come from west Cornwall, mainly The Lizard; recently including Chyvarloe, Kynance Cove, Lizard Point, Housel Bay and Church Cove. Away from The Lizard, reported from a number of sites in West Penwith, and an inland hedgebank along A394 at Rame, near Helston by A.P. Foster. Found in 1996 near Veryan Bay.
Habitat & Ecology
Larvae feed in the capitula of Sheep' s-bit Jasione montana ; the adults are generally found on the flower head.
Threats
Probably none as the plant and weevil occur on many inaccessible cliffs.
00 Conservation
Widespread on National Trust land.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.