📷My Random Clicks of Insect weevils 🪲 (Black Vine Weevils) MOOSE TAPE #DEVIL

Many weevils are considered pests because of their ability to damage and kill crops. The grain or wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius) damages stored grain, as does the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) among others. The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) attacks cotton crops; it lays its eggs inside cotton bolls and the larvae eat their way out. Other weevils are used for biological control of invasive plants.

A weevil's rostrum, or elongated snout, hosts chewing mouthparts instead of the piercing mouthparts that proboscis-possessing insects are known for. The mouthparts are often used to excavate tunnels into grains.[1] In more derived weevils, the rostrum has a groove in which the weevil can fold the first segment of its antennae.

Some weevils have the ability to fly, such as the rice weevil.[2][3]

One species of weevil, Austroplatypus incompertus, exhibits eusociality, one of the few insects outside the Hymenoptera and the Isoptera to do so.

Taxonomy and phylogenyEdit

Because so many species exist in such diversity, the higher classification of weevils is in a state of flux. They are generally divided into two major divisions, the Orthoceri or primitive weevils, and the Gonatoceri or true weevils (Curculionidae). E. C. Zimmerman proposed a third division, the Heteromorphi, for several intermediate forms.[4] Primitive weevils are distinguished by having straight antennae, while true weevils have elbowed (geniculate) antennae. The elbow occurs at the end of the scape (first antennal segment) in true weevils, and the scape is usually much longer than the other antennal segments. Some exceptions occur. Nanophyini are primitive weevils (with very long trochanters), but have long scapes and geniculate antennae. From the true weevils, Gonipterinae and Ramphus have short scapes and little or no elbow.

A 1995 classification system to family level was provided by Kuschel,[5] with updates from Marvaldi et al. in 2002,[6] and was achieved using phylogenetic analyses. The accepted families were the primitive weevils, Anthribidae, Attelabidae, Belidae, Brentidae, Caridae, and Nemonychidae, and the true weevils Curculionidae. Most other weevil families were demoted to subfamilies or tribes. Further work resulted in the elevation of Cimberididae to family from placement as a Nemonychidae subfamily in 2017 and the recognition of the Cretaceous age family Mesophyletidae in 2018 from Burmese amber.[7] The oldest punitive weevils belong to the extinct family Obrieniidae, with species dating from the Ladinian stage of the Triassic through to tentatively the Oxfordian. Genera of the family have been only found in three formations in Kazahkstan, with most named in 1993.[8]

A phylogeny of the Curculionoidea based on 18S ribosomal DNA comparison and morphological data conducted by Marvaldi et al in 2002 is suggested below:[6]

   

Nemonychidae

  

Anthribidae

    

Belidae

   

Attelabidae

   

Caridae

   

Brentidae

  

Curculionidae

      

FamiliesEditAnthribidae—fungus weevilsAttelabidae—leaf rolling weevilsBelidae—primitive weevilsBrentidae—straight snout weevilsCaridaeCurculionidae—true weevils†MesophyletidaeNemonychidae—pine flower weevils†ObrieniidaeReferencesEdit

^ Moon, Myung-Jin (2015). "Microstructure of mandibulate mouthparts in the greater rice weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)". Entomological Research. 45 (1): 9–15. doi:10.1111/1748-5967.12086. ISSN 1748-5967.^ "What Is a Weevil and How Did That Bug Get in My Food?".^ "Weevils on Stored Grain (Department of Entomology)". Department of Entomology (Penn State University).^ E. C. Zimmerman (1994). Australian weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Volume 1. Orthoceri: Anthribidae to Attelabidae: the primitive weevils. East Melbourne: CSIRO. pp. 741 pp.^ G. Kuschel (1995). "A phylogenetic classification of Curculionoidea to families and subfamilies". Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington. 14: 5–33.^ a b A. E. Marvaldi, A. S. Sequeira, C. W. O'Brien & B. D. Farrell (2002). "Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae): do niche shifts accompany diversification?". Systematic Biology. 51 (5): 761–785. doi:10.1080/10635150290102465. PMID 12396590.^ Dave J. Clarke; Ajay Limaye; Duane D. McKenna; Rolf G. Oberprieler (2018). "The weevil fauna preserved in Burmese amber—snapshot of a unique, extinct lineage (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)". Diversity. 11 (1): Article 1. doi:10.3390/d11010001.^ Legalov, A. A. (2010). "Checklist of Mesozoic Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) with description of new taxa". Baltic Journal of Coleopterology. 10 (1): 71–101.^ G. Wilhelm; et al. (2011). "Sexual dimorphism in head structures of the weevil Rhopalapion longirostre: a response to ecological demands of egg 

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