From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids
- This article is about the beetle. For other uses, see Weevil (disambiguation).
| Weevil |
Female Liophloeus tessulatus
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| Scientific classification |
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Families
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Nemonychidae - pine flower weevils
Anthribidae - fungus weevils
Belidae - primitive weevils
Attelabidae - leaf rolling weevils
Brentidae - straight snout weevils
Caridae
Ithyceridae - New York weevil
Curculionidae - true weevils
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A weevil is a beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae (the true weevils).
They are usually small, less than 6 mm (¼ inch), and herbivorous. Due to the shape of their heads, weevils are commonly known as snout beetles.
Weevils are destructive to crops. The grain or wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius) damages stored grain. The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) attacks cotton crops. It lays its eggs inside unripe cotton bolls, and the young weevils eat their way out. The Zyzzyva weevil is a genus of tropical American weevil.
Some other beetles are wrongly called "weevils", like the biscuit weevils (Stegobium paniceum) (Anobiidae) that were previously known for eating the biscuits on board ships. Weevils are most likely to be observed in a domestic setting when opening a bag of flour although they will happily infest most types of grain including oats, barley and breakfast cereals. If ingested, E. coli and other various diseases can be contracted from weevils, depending on their diet.
In Eastern folk medicine it is sometimes said that weevils are capable of curing or relieving cancer, diabetes and AIDS amongst other diseases, by eating them. There is no scientific background, however, and as with most such claims, this is highly questionable (one's perception of improvement may have to do with the placebo effect).
Weevil of the Belidae family on parsley flowers
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