Eggs hatch in a few days and the larvae begin feeding on the acorn meat. Females do this in summer and create chambers in the nut meat and then lays eggs into them. Their mouth parts are located at the tip of that long snout and are used to chew holes in plant material and, in the case of acorn weevils, through the shell of developing acorns. The basal portion fits into a groove in their snout when they are feeding. Their antennae are bent in the middle (geniculate) and are located about half-way down the rostrum. True weevils are generally small beetles (less than 1/4 inch) with a long snout (rostrum) that remind some of the trunk of an elephant. I photographed this adult, the only one I have ever found, in late August a few years ago There were a lot of them…what the heck were these things? I placed the nuts in a pan and after a couple of days, I noticed some movement in my acorn stash…small, chubby little grubs. I collected a batch of acorns from a couple of different oak species and was going to have students observe and sketch them. I was preparing a lesson for a class years ago and decided to do something on acorns (it was a very good mast year that year). But, first, let me explain my introduction to the creature that is often the cause of this phenomenon of the floating acorn. In spite of this fact being around for over one hundred years (at least), I found out about it only after I started working at the museum 20+ years ago. I am looking for acorns these days, to sow on the Walden lot, but can find very few sound ones…I found by trial that the last or apparently sound acorns would always sink in water, while the rotten ones would float, and I have accordingly offered five cents a quart for such as will sink.
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