Pea Leaf Weevil

Jamie found this little insect in the earth today. It was near an over-wintered broad bean which had died - it seemed a bit odd as the rest of the row of beans seem happy.
When I got home I discovered that it's a pea leaf weevil Sitona lineatus.

The larvae live on the roots of beans and the adults nibble the edges of the leaves, hmm, funny that as ours had been pinked (as in pinking shears)! It does also live on the many legume weeds which grow around the allotment site, such as bird’s foot trefoil and vetch.

It's short snout makes it stand out from other weevils which generally have a long nose. It may not cause a lot of damage to crops - so maybe it was coincidence that it was by the dead broad bean. The broad bean may in fact have succumbed to frost...