I don't know what gender it was, but I called it Mr. Weevil. I released the little guy about 4+ days ago, and while I'm sad I may not see another weevil for a very long time, I'm still happy I got to see Mr. Weevil

Bye, Mr. Weevil. You will be missed 🪦

A couple visitors I found in my house this month. The first one was smaller than a grain of rice!

What kind of weevil is this? Found in Las Vegas, NV

i found him inside a building and shared an apple with him. he was OBSESSED with it he would not let go 😭 i watched him drill into it for like an hour it was so cute

then i put him outside to find acorns :)

Might colour him in when I'm home ✨

could't quite angle to camera to show the snoot, but it was so adorbs

Saw this friend going on a walk with me

Pumpkin weevil with the pumpkin larva!!
Edit: I just saw the post from last week, didn't mean to copy at all! I just thought of doing a weevil pumpkin cause they've been on my mind constantly 😭

Yheahhhh!!!! Weevil time!!!!

it looks like he has the familiar snout but his fastness confuses me

Look at the little boots 😭

Yes I cried real tears of joy I was so excited.

Caption copied from my insta post (mybughugs):

WEEVIL NO! Omg I'm so sorry... I can't believe he said that! Do you forgive him?

This weevil's main crime was being so damn small and cute!

This little guy had a crazy day! I found him on a plant we collected in botany class being chewed on by a spider... so he was saved from death, trapped briefly in a collection tube jail, released and forced to walk around under a microscope, and then finally let back outside haha

Weevils are a type of beetle, and quite difficult to identify to species level. This is because they come from the most species diverse superfamily on earth, Curculionoidea! With around 97000 currently described species so far, and an estimated 200k total species in the world for us to discover!

To make things harder, this particular weevil is a true weevil, from the largest FAMILY of animals on earth, Curculionidae. The easiest way to differentiate between true weevils and primitive weevil families is by looking at the antennae. True weevils have this bent elbow shape in the middle, called "geniculate antennae", whereas all other weevil families have straight antennae.

The reason why weevils are so hyperdiverse, with species in every shape, size and colour, is because weevils evolved a long time ago, diversifying during the Cretaceous period alongside the rise of flowering plants! We have found super cool preserved ancient weevils in amber! If there's a plant, chances are there's a weevil for it!

This coevolution alongside plants allowed weevils to develop high host specificity, meaning each weevil is specifically adapted to feed on their particular host plant! Because of this, there is less competition between weevil species, since they all stick to their dedicated plant, so in a healthy ecosystem with plenty of host plant diversity, you will therefore find an equally diverse community of weevils minding their own business and living in harmony!

Asking for a friend (I've never had this issue personally): how do you keep weevils from getting into large bags of rice?

Do they normally get in there from the factory, or do they usually make their way in at the store / home after purchase? Does anyone know?

I know it's a girl because long snoot look it up.