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LONG-NOSED WEEVILS

CURCULIONIDAE: CURCULIONINAE

T

he Curculioninae are the largest subfamily

in the weevil family Curculionidae, and are

found throughout the world. They almost all feed

on living plants, and the vast majority are host-

specific, that is they are associated with only a single

plant genus or species. Furthermore, they often

feed on only a particular structure of the

plant, so a given plant species may be

host to several weevil species. This

has driven their rapid evolution,

which probably happened

at the same time as

and together with the

diversification of

flowering plants at the

end of the Cretaceous.

Curculioninae are

called long-nosed

weevils because most

species have an elongated

rostrum with the biting

mandibles placed at the end.

This is longer in the females,

which use it as a drill to make

a hole in the plant substrate

into which they lay their eggs using

a telescopic ovipositor or egg-laying tube,

subfamily

Curculioninae

known species

23,500

distribution

Worldwide except Antarctica

habitat

Forests, swamps, plains, agricultural

fields—anywhere that plants grow

size

2–50 mm

diet

Living plants. Adults feed on the leaves

and stems, and larvae develop within the

plant itself

notes

Some Curculioninae are major pests of

agriculture. An example is the Cotton Boll

Weevil Anthonomus grandis, which crippled

the cotton industry in the American South.

There are also a very few exceptions that

don’t feed on living plants at all. Members

of the European genus Archarius develop in

CURCULIONIDAE: CURCULIONINAE

below | Cerocranus extremus From

New Caledonia, this beetle has

a tower of waxy secretion on its

thorax. The purpose of this

removable structure is not known.