Nut Weevil: An insect wearing a plague doctor's mask. This pest destroys up to 80% of the acorn harvest (7 photos)

He lived and did not grieve

Fruitful.

Sorry, with a name like that the pun suggests itself. The fruit weevil, or nut weevil, although an insect, is similar to one only in the number of legs. And with dimensions of 6-9 mm you can’t claim anything more. But you definitely can’t call him a typical bug.

It is unlikely that the average arthropod wears a plague doctor mask on its face.





The fruit looks as if a fly was made out of an elephant. A plump body covered with fluff, powerful legs and, of course, a “trunk”. This, combined with giant eyes, is reminiscent of medieval aesthetics.



Which weevil will you choose today? Clockwise: saboteur weevil, off-road tank weevil, speedy bipedal weevil, healer weevil.

This very mask—gosh, understand that: it’s not a nose, not a head, and not a jaw. The highbrow professors decided to call it a rogue. Well, let them call it, as long as it works. And it works perfectly - the weevil can gnaw through even hard fruits with its tool.





The beetle settled in the epicenter of FREAKING events - Western Europe. It also exists in the vast expanses of our Vast: in the Caucasus and Siberia. The main criterion for the life of a beetle is the presence of oak. No, I’m not talking about frost or the state of “death,” but specifically about oak.



From this angle, he himself kind of looks like an acorn.

Despite the fact that the fruit is a fan of plague doctors, he himself is still that infection. Adults and larvae of this insect are pests. Adults eat leaves, larvae eat fruits. Under favorable conditions, the fruit stalk destroys more than 50-80% of the acorn harvest. And all because acorns for them are a home, a kitchen, and a mother.



The breeding season of fruitworms lasts as much as 5 months - from May to September. But insects are especially active in producing new oak beetles in July. It is at this time that acorns begin to form. After a passionate sneeze-puff, as passionate as insects can be, 2 weeks pass.



Adult weevils eat not only oak leaves, but also other plants.

By this time, the acorns had already grown by half and were still soft. This is what the weevil uses: with its powerful rostrum, the female gnaws a hole in the fruit and lays 3-8 eggs there. In total, she will make up to 150 such bookmarks. As a result, one mother can spoil up to 50 acorns.



Inside the acorn, the fleshy larvae will feast for a whole month until they eat all the contents. Having gained mass, they will sink into the soil through gravity. In the earth, the larva makes a soft cradle and pupates to spread fear and terror among gardeners and trees!