Some insects spend a lifetime destroying the things man tries to grow or create.
There is any family of insects that man could certainly do without, it is the Weevil. While the weevils are only a sub-division of the beetle group of insects, the weevils are themselves the largest natural family in the entire animal kingdom! They include over 35,000 known species, and there is probably several times that number that man has yet to discover and classify!
Weevils vary greatly in size, shape, and colour. They are usually small and are recognized by the trunk-like or knife-like projections on their heads. At the end of these projections there is a mouth. These snouts are used by the females for drilling holes for their eggs. Weevil larvae are usually fat, white .grubs, and both the larvae and the adults have good appetites and are vegetable eaters.
But the reason why they are so destructive is not because of their large numbers or enormous appetites. It is because they attack the most vital and delicate parts of the plant—the buds, fruits, seeds, growing tips, and living tissues under the bark. When they get finished, the plant is apt to be dead.
The granary weevil destroys the grains of corn, wheat, and barley. This is one of the most destructive weevils of all. The rice weevil destroys not only rice, but a great many other dry food products.The cotton boll weevil is the most serious enemy of the cotton crops of the world. It can ruin entire cotton crops.With more than 2,500 different weevils to be found in North America alone, you can see what an enemy of man this insect is.
There is any family of insects that man could certainly do without, it is the Weevil. While the weevils are only a sub-division of the beetle group of insects, the weevils are themselves the largest natural family in the entire animal kingdom! They include over 35,000 known species, and there is probably several times that number that man has yet to discover and classify!
Weevils vary greatly in size, shape, and colour. They are usually small and are recognized by the trunk-like or knife-like projections on their heads. At the end of these projections there is a mouth. These snouts are used by the females for drilling holes for their eggs. Weevil larvae are usually fat, white .grubs, and both the larvae and the adults have good appetites and are vegetable eaters.
But the reason why they are so destructive is not because of their large numbers or enormous appetites. It is because they attack the most vital and delicate parts of the plant—the buds, fruits, seeds, growing tips, and living tissues under the bark. When they get finished, the plant is apt to be dead.
The granary weevil destroys the grains of corn, wheat, and barley. This is one of the most destructive weevils of all. The rice weevil destroys not only rice, but a great many other dry food products.The cotton boll weevil is the most serious enemy of the cotton crops of the world. It can ruin entire cotton crops.With more than 2,500 different weevils to be found in North America alone, you can see what an enemy of man this insect is.
