acorn weevil
Curculio glandium
To bore into a hard green acorn, the female rotates her entire head back and forth, driving the tiny serrated mandibles at the tip of her snout like a mechanical drill.
- Scientific name
- Curculio glandium
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Coleoptera › Curculionidae › Curculio
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Deciduous woodlands, mixed temperate forests, parks, and hedgerows with mature oak trees.
- Diet
- Adults feed on oak leaves, flowers, and developing acorns; larvae feed exclusively on the interior cotyledons of acorns.
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia
- Size
- 4–9 mm in body length, with the female rostrum adding an equal length
- Lifespan
- 1–3 yr
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Loss of mature oak woodlands, heavy pesticide application in commercial forestry, and extreme droughts impacting acorn production.
- Safe to approach?
- Acorn weevils are harmless to humans. They cannot bite, sting, or cause allergic reactions, and possess no venom. They can be safely observed or handled on oak foliage. If disturbed, they typically tuck their legs in and feign death (thanatosis). No medical attention or specific action is needed upon contact.
Curculio glandium is a species of European carpophagus weevil in the genus Curculio , the acorn and nut weevils. It eats by a rostrum, an elongated snout, that is used for piercing.
Photo: Victor Heng, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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