#true weevils

Though they’re often considered pests, weevils are an inevitable fact of life; they can found on every continent except Antarctica, and are extremely diverse. There are about 97,000 recognized species, of which 83,000 belong to the ‘true weevil’ family Curculionidae, making it one of the largest families in the animal kingdom.

(Image: An elephant weevil (Orthorhinus cylindrirostris) by Grahame Bowland via Wikipedia)

Anoche, antes de acostarme, me encontré un gorgojo entre la ropa recién lavada: apenas 5 mm, obscuro, una prominente trompa; bellísimo y delicado, como todo coleóptero, como lo son también las aves paseriformes, radicales antónimos del ser humano. Lo puse con ternura sobre la palma de mi mano y la cerré con suavidad.

De un estante saqué emocionado una de mis guías de coleópteros para su identificación, y abrí el libro y la mano, pero ni rastro del picudo: se había escurrido por la rendija de mis dedos y me quedé sin saber cuál era su nombre: 5489 géneros y 86100 especies en el mundo, un gorgojo, que por unos segundos me perteneció y leyó mi vida paseándose por las líneas de la palma de mi mano.

[8/II/2024]

This Flower Weevil is a rare/thought to be extinct genus, called Odontocorynus umbellae. This specific genus of Flower Weevil is most commonly seen munching on flowers such as daisies, sunflowers and the like.

Gargoyle

Deretiosus aridus

Thanks for the question! And I certainly do! I was in the middle of writing a post about bearded weevils (Rhinostomus barbirostris), and I opened a new tumblr tab to check the tags of my other posts, and I saw this!

🤗💖

I suppose I'll just copy and paste what I was writing over here.

✨ cool bug facts's ✨

Rhinostomus barbirostris, or the Bearded weevil!

😳Why he looks like 🦧 👨‍🦰

😍The anatomy of these TOTALLY TUBULAR Ronald weevilys!!😍

They are classified as true weevils. Weevils can either be Curculionidae - True weevils, or Belidae - Primitive weevils. The difference between them being that true weevils have an elbow-like bend in their antennae, while primitive weevils have straight antennae, because straight people are primitive.

The males have orange bristles on their snout, making the appearance of a red beard.

They are the third largest species of weevil in the world.

They have sexual polymorphism, rather than dimorphism, meaning the males can have the characteristics of a female, with the only way to properly tell them apart being the facial hair. The females, on the other hand, can't take the appearance of males.

Diet.

The larvae eat the wood and roots of coconut trees and oil palms.

The adults eat coconuts and whatever grows on oil palms.

Behavior.

They are very attracted to light, and are often found under peoples porchlights.

The feminine looking males, while looking for a mate, will sneak past the other fighting males, who think they are a random female, and therefore do not see them as competition, allowing for them to breed with the female they were fighting over. (Although, what happens if a different male thinks they're more attractive than the actual female?)

Habitat.

While their main homes are on coconut trees and oil palms, they can be found on most species of Arecaceae, or palm trees.

They are found in most places in Central and South America.

Endangerment.

Like most weevils, humans tend to exterminate them due to their feasting on things that humans also like to eat. Unlike a lot of other weevils, though, they feed on things that aren't considered to be crops.

Humans might also exterminate them due to their carrying of diseases to palm trees, such as resinosis, or stem bleeding, and red ring disease, which is a very harmful disease to oil palms that tends to cause little leaf syndrome (As the name implies, it is a syndrome where the leaves shrink down to an abnormally small size.), this effects more than 15% of oil palms in commercial plantations.

Sorry for taking so long to answer! (I think, I'm not sure what the average answering time is.)

Be careful not to sneeze; you might blow the pepper weevil away! This species is one of the smallest weevils, at only 2 mm (0.07 in) long. Although their name aptly reflects their tiny, black, pepper-like appearance, they’re actually named for the host plants in which they lay their eggs; the family Solanaceae, which includes peppers, tomatillos, and other nightshades.

(Image: A pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii) by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)