Apionidae
The 85 or so British species, formerly included within the genus Apion, are now split into genera. Whilst various other groups of beetles may be mistaken for weevils in general (curculionidae), the Apionidae are distinctive among the British fauna and are unlikely to be confused with anything else. 1.5-3.5mm. Generally elongate oval, convex and broadest behind middle, from here the insect appears to taper to the end of the rostrum. Thorax narrower than elytra across shoulders. Legs long and slender, Trochanters long, tarsi pseudotetromerous with third segment strongly bilobed, claws free i.e. not joined at the base. Apionidae are Orthocerous weevils, i.e. the antennae are straight and not geniculate (cf. Curculionidae, Nanophyidae) although the first segment is often elongate. Segments of club closely fused and not obvious (cf. Rhynchitidae) Often brightly coloured and sometimes metallic many species or species groups can be identified in the field. They are commonly found by general sweeping but working close to the ground among herbage or turf is often very productive. Most species are monophagous, occuring on herbaceous rather than woody plants. Usually a particular part of the plant is attacked. An excellent summary of hosts is given in Morris and equiped with this information many species can be found via their foodplant. Beating and bagging are very effective indeed, in any case where possible a note should be made of the host as this is often valuable for ID purposes.
Apion frumentarium	Apion frumentarium	Apion frumentarium	Apion frumentarium	Apion
Apion haematodes	Apion haematodes	Apion haematodes	Apion haematodes	Apion haematodes
Aspidapion aeneum	Aspidapion aeneum	Aspidapion aeneum
Aspidapion radiolus	Aspidapion radiolus	Aspidapion radiolus
Betulapion simile
Ceratapion gibbirostre	Ceratapion gibbirostre
Ceratapion onopordi
Exapion fuscirostre	Exapion fuscirostre
Exapion ulicis	Exapion ulicis	Exapion ulicis	Exapion ulicis
Holotrichapion ononis
Ischnopterapion loti
Malvapion malvae	Malvapion malvae
Oxystoma craccae
Perapion curtirostre
Perapion hydrolapathi
Perapion violaceum
Pirapion immune
Protapion apricans
Protapion assimile
Protapion fulvipes	Protapion fulvipes	Protapion fulvipes
Protapion trifolii
Pseudapion rufirostre Female	Pseudapion rufirostre Male
Rhopalapion longirostre
Squamapion cineraceum
Squamapion flavimanum
Synapion ebeninum
Taeniapion urticarium	Taeniapion urticarium
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