Acorn - Nut Weevil
Curculio sp.
Peppersauce Canyon Campground, Sta. Catalina Mts., Pinal Co., Arizona, USA. 24 Sept. 2017.
Sponsored Links:
Curculio is a genus of weevils that are specialized for feeding on nuts, particularly acorns and walnuts. It is with her very long snout that the female initiates the life cycle by drilling a deep hole into a nut such as an acorn. There is a mouth and a set of small, very sharp mandibles at the tip. Deep inside the nut she lays an egg, from which hatches a worm-like grub that feeds upon the meat of the nut. The full grown grub exits the acorn or nut and falls to the ground where it will pupate in the soil. The new adult beetle may not appear for a year or even three years later. There are 30 some species across North America and separating them to species usually requires microscopic examination. In Arizona they are associated with the several kinds of oaks and the acorns they produce. Arizona Walnut might host yet another Curculio species.