African elephant vs Clover Seed Weevil

Loxodonta africana compared with Tychius picirostris

Key Differences

• African elephant is Vulnerable while Clover Seed Weevil is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant	Clover Seed Weevil
Kingdom same	Animalia (动物界)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Chordata (脊索动物门)	Arthropoda (节肢动物门)
Class	Mammalia (哺乳動物)	Insecta (昆蟲綱)
Order	Proboscidea (长鼻目)	Coleoptera (鞘翅目)
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Curculionidae
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Tychius
Species	Loxodonta africana	Tychius picirostris

Evolutionary Relationship

African elephant and Clover Seed Weevil share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (动物界)

Conservation Status

African elephant

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~415.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Clover Seed Weevil

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African elephant	Clover Seed Weevil
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	65 years	—
Average Length	6.0 m	—
Average Weight	6.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

African elephant

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clover Seed Weevil

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (4 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

African elephant

非洲象是地球上体型最大的陆地动物，体重可达7,000千克，栖息于撒哈拉以南非洲的草原、稀树草原和森林中。作为关键种，它们通过挖掘水源、传播种子和改变植被结构，深刻塑造了其栖息地的生态系统。受栖息地丧失和象牙盗猎威胁，非洲象的保护至关重要。

Clover Seed Weevil

The clover seed weevil (Tychius picirostris) is a small weevil in the family Curculionidae, order Coleoptera, specializing in seed predation of clover species (Trifolium) and related legumes. Females oviposit directly into developing clover seed pods, and larvae feed within the seeds as they develop, consuming the cotyledons and reducing seed viability. A single larva typically destroys one seed per pod, and high infestation densities can eliminate a substantial proportion of seed yield in agricultural clover crops, making T. picirostris an economically significant pest. Adults feed on clover flowers and foliage before and after overwintering in soil and leaf litter, emerging in spring with host plant flowering. T. picirostris is distributed across temperate Europe and its range extends to North America including Canada and parts of the United States, where it has been introduced. In Europe it is recorded from countries including Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. It inhabits meadows, grasslands, roadside verges, and agricultural clover fields wherever suitable Trifolium host plants flower. T. picirostris is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with populations considered stable despite localized management actions by farmers seeking to reduce seed crop losses. Adults are two to three millimeters long, reddish-brown with a characteristic elongated snout, typical of curculionid weevils.