Often the grains are found with hollow holes in them. These tiny little holes emerge all of a sudden even when the grains are stored in the protective bags.
From where do the holes appear? Who make these holes in the grains?
Those are the weevils that are responsible for this menace!
What are the weevils? Where do they come from? Why do they invade grain bags?
Let’s know the answer to these questions.
Weevil species occur in a wide range of colors and body shapes. Many are slender or oval-shaped insects. Depending on the species, weevils range in size from about 3 mm to over 10 mm in length. They are usually dark-colored—brownish to black. Some have scales or shiny hair covering part of their bodies. The most distinctive feature of weevils is the shape of their head. An adult weevil has an elongated head that forms a snout. The mouth is at the end of the snout. Some weevils have a snout that is as long as the body. Another family of beetles called Bruchidae, such as the cowpea weevil, have a different appearance from the typical weevil. They lack the elongated snout found in the Curculionidae.
Weevils feed on plants in the larval stage and as adults. Some weevils can be very destructive to crops. For many years, one of the most destructive weevils was the cotton boll weevil which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. The black vine weevil is found in many parts of the United States. It feeds on a variety of plants, including hemlocks and rhododendrons.
Often called flou
r bugs, because that is where they are frequently found, there are actually a number of types of weevil, including rice weevils, seed weevils, granary/grain weevils, maize weevils, and bean/pea/seed weevils, but the “true” weevils – with the snout nose, are the granary, rice, and maize weevils.
Most weevils are found in fields, gardens or orchards. A few weevils attack stored grains and seeds. They can be very destructive, and their damage is often very expensive. The most common stored product weevils are the rice weevil, the granary weevil, and the cowpea weevil.
However, a few weevils become structural pests. These are the weevils that upset homeowners because they invade homes—often in great numbers. Some of them invade in the fall. They hide during the winter and leave in the spring. Others invade in the summer when the weather starts turning hot.
But unlike beetles that live and feed on foods, these weevils actually live and feed inside the food.
The female chews a hole into a seed or grain kernel and deposits an egg inside. The female weevil then seals up the opening, leaving the egg inside. When the egg hatches (inside the grain/seed), the larva feeds on the meat inside until it is fully grown. Once fully grown, the adult weevil eats its way out of the grain/seed.
When they infest grain that is stored in bins and remains undisturbed, they can completely destroy the food.
In the home, weevils can be brought in packaged foods or they can come in from outside. Once inside, a population can grow and expand to food items stored nearby if they are not controlled.
Pests plague Negros Oriental coffee farm
Jude Torres, ABS-CBN News Posted on Sep 26, 2017
DAUIN, Negros Oriental – A coffee farm in this town is fighting off an infestation of coffee bean borers and coffee weevils, which eat and destroy the coffee cherries, the local agriculture office said.
The Baslay Farmer’s Association last month noticed a defect in the coffee cherries in their 70-hectare coffee farm. In the evaluation of the Regional Crop Protection Center of the Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas, 3 hectares of the Baslay Coffee farm were found to be infested with pests.
Boll weevil bottled up in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley
Ron Smith 1 | Feb 22, 2013
The struggle against the boll weevil will continue until officials get a handle on boll weevils coming out of Mexico. The Lower Rio Grande Valley remains the last bastion of boll weevil infestation in the country, and the decades-old eradication program continues to deplete the pest’s numbers there, but as long as a viable population exists, cotton farmers cannot rest.
We can’t allow these pests to destroy our crops and grains now and then. The loss due to them is just unnecessary. Insecticides have proven inefficient in combating these pests and there’s an urgent call for stopping their menace in a non-hazardous way.
To get the solution, why not we opt for the non- hazardous, low-toxic and eco- friendly products provided by C Tech Corporation.
Combirepel™ an anti-insect additive, a C Tech Corporation product is an ideal solution for the prevention and control of weevils infestation. The masterbatch of Combirepel™ can be incorporated in wires and cables which are used in domestic wiring. Combirepel™liquid concentrate which can be mixed in paints and can be applied to damaged applications. While Combirepel™ lacquer can be used as a topical application which can be applied to furniture, walls, ceilings etc. It follows 6 pronged strategies which are extremely effective on weevils as well as insects like ants, beetles, grasshopper, termites etc.
Combirepel™ is a non-toxic and non-hazardous anti-insect additive. It is thermally stable and does not degrade on exposure to heat and sunlight. It does not kill or harm the insect but repels them. It does not volatilize and does not degrade the soil.