Females place eggs inside the nut using a long ovipositor that descends from the abdomen. The tip of the snouth is actually a miniature saw, and the weevil places the tip against the shell, circling endlessly around the pivot point until the shell is pierced. These specimens are, of course, the long-snouted variety.Īdults of both genera feed on acorns, but only the long snouted weevils can drill into the shells to feed and lay eggs inside the nutmeat. The longsnouted acorn weevil’s snout may be equal to or greater than the length of its body. There are two types, or genera: the long-snouted acorn weevils (genus Curculio) and the short-snouted ones (genus Conotrachelus). These live adult weevils were found in a large grove of Butternut, Shagbark Hickories and Oak trees at the original site of the Native American burial mounds at Winfield, Illinois.Īcorn weevils have snouts with small, saw-like teeth at the very end. The acorn weevil, Curculio, is one of the weevils that infest hardwood nuts. These weevils attack both red and white oaks and are found wherever the hosts grow. In the case of the acorn weevils, the snout can actually be longer than the body. The bent antennae usually project from the middle of the snout. The mouthparts of snout beetles are modified into down-curved snouts, or beaks, adapted for boring into plants the jaws are at the end of the snout. They are usually small, hard-bodied insects. Weevil is the common name for beetles of the snout beetle family Curculionidae. There are over 35,000 species of weevil worldwide, with more than 2,500 species in North America. Live adult weevils photographed at Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve, DuPage County, Illinois, USA.
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