Hello everyone, welcome to the wonderful and grotesque world of insects again!
In the last tweet, we learned about scarab beetles and told two short stories about dung scarabs
This little dung golden turtle, don't look small, there are many stories hidden behind it, not only saving hundreds of millions of dollars for American farmers, but also the gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptian people.
I really didn't expect that in daily life, a fecal golden turtle that was accidentally pinched to death actually hid such a huge amount of energy, did everyone dare not underestimate the dung golden turtle?
Today, we will step into the dimensional world of another insect, whose name is the weevil.
weevil
The story of the weevil is no worse than that of the dung golden turtle.
Don't dung turtles push dung? The ability of the weevil to roll leaves is superb!
Don't dung turtles help American farmers save money? The weevil has also gone to court!
Isn't the dung golden turtle the sacred horse of the ancient Egyptian people? The weevil not only destroyed the farmers' crops, but also made a memorial statue by the farmers!
Lo and behold, this weevil is also the most powerful!
Without further ado, let's first understand where this weevil came from
<h1> What is a weevil? </h1>
Like scarab beetles, weevils are generic terms for insects, with more than 60,000 species of weevils branching out.
Weevils come from the distant African continent, because the "nose" is long, accounting for more than half of the body, reminiscent of the nose of an elephant, so it is called a weevil.
The long "nose" of the weevil
The long nose of the weevil has 3 uses.
First, chew food with its nose; the weevil eats mostly pollen, and when the weevil is hungry, it sticks its long nose into the buds and greedily sucks on the sweet pollen.
Second, drill into the roots and seeds of plants; like scarab beetles, weevils are pests and are the focus of farmers' uncles. Using its long, hard nose, the weevil arched the soil a little bit, and slowly stuck its nose into the seeds of the ground and the roots of the plant, tasting this delicious food.
A weevil lying on a leaf
Third, gender identification; male weevils have shorter noses and female weevils have longer noses, and entomologists often identify the sex of the weevils based on the length of their noses. When you encounter a weevil in the wild, carefully observe its nose to see if the weevil is a female or a male weevil.
The weevil is known as the hardest insect in the world, and even if you smash the weevil into the stone, the weevil will not be damaged.
However, the hardest insects in the world also have a weak side. When the weevil encounters a predator or encounters danger, it automatically shrinks into a clump, the muscles are highly contracted, in a state of suspended animation, and the predator sees that the prey has died and loses interest in hunting. After the predator flew away, the alarm was lifted on its own, and the weevil straightened up, returned to normal, and walked slowly home.
The natural enemy of the weevil, the birds
This is a common "state of suspended animation" in the insect world, and it is a way for insects to protect themselves.
Weevil lying on the leaves
In addition to the weevils, our old friend Scarab also mastered the best method of suspended animation.
I believe that everyone has a general understanding of the object nose worm, and is regarded as a beginner of the weevil worm. Next, I Q Toot Tiger tell you the anecdotes behind the 3 weevils, in the long river of history, what role does the weevil play, and what are its unknown stories?
Please follow in my footsteps and walk into today's insect world.
<h1>Attentive cradle maker</h1>
The curly leaf weevil is a major branch of the weevil family, known for its curly leaf habit. In "Insects", the French entomologist Fabre called the curly leaf weevil a careful cradle maker, in general, insects lay eggs at will in the dangerous wilderness, without the slightest concern that the newborn eggs are so fragile, ready to be attacked by predators and parasites.
Baby birds waiting to be fed
Female leaf-curling weevils are not as big as other insects, they will carefully make a cradle for the eggs they lay, provide shelter for the eggs against natural enemies, and can be called the model mother of the insect world!
So, how did the curly leaf weevil mother make a "cradle"?
There is a big doorway here. First of all, the mother of the leaf weevil will carefully select a fresh and soft leaf, such a leaf is convenient for the mother of the leaf weevil to roll out of the "cradle", and then, the mother of the leaf weevil bites out a small hole in the leaf to let the moisture loss of the leaf, which is also convenient for the mother of the weevil to roll the "cradle".
A weevil that bites a small hole in the leaf
Then, the mother of the curly leaf weevil bites out one opening after another along the leaf vein, and then uses both hands and feet, using the bite out of the opening, forcefully folding the leaves in half, rolling up the folded leaves in half, and each roll lays an empty egg, step by step.
Curly leaf weevil mother carefully cares for the fragile eggs, afraid of any small mistakes in the production process, while the curly leaf weevil mother rolls leaves and lays eggs, the curly leaf weevil father on the side is not idle, it walks around, repelling tiny insects, to prevent these small insects from taking advantage of the void and parasitizing on the eggs.
parasite
The mother of the curly leaf weevil completes the production of the cradle, and the original leaves are rolled by the industrious mother of the rolled leaf weevil and the spring roll, wrapping the eggs tightly.
Finally, the mother of the leaf weevil bites off the root of the leaf, and the "cradle" falls to the ground, and the baby weevils hatch in the "cradle" carefully made by the mother of the weevil, break out of the cocoon, and finally grow into a worm and complete the cycle of life.
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, insects cannot have the same complex emotions as humans, have no feelings, perceptions, do not cry, do not laugh, and rudely classify insects as animals, such a practice is reckless.
You see, isn't the curl leaf weevil a living example? For the sake of the infant child, painstaking efforts are made to make a cradle, and the maternal love of insects is the same as the maternal love of humans.
<h1>A cottonseed weevil monument</h1>
Cottonseed weevils are frightening pests that specialize in cotton and bring great harm to the cotton industry, especially in the United States.
You would never have imagined that there is a cottonseed weevil monument in Alabama, USA, which is the only insect monument in the world. This monument is not a memorial to the great deeds of the cottonseed weevil, of course, which is not possible, but to thank the cottonseed weevil for sounding the alarm bell for the local agricultural industry!
Alabama is located in the southern United States, the climate is suitable for growing cotton, is a famous cotton-producing state, has the reputation of "cotton state". ，
Cotton in Alabama
Cotton is almost thriving in the local industry, and the financial, water, and crop industries are withering in Alabama. The people of Alabama think that they will be able to eat on cotton for generations, relying on the unique geographical advantages of the local area to eat for a lifetime.
In 1910, a serious cottonseed weevil disaster completely shattered the dreams of the Alabama people, and the cottonseed weevil attacked the cotton fields of the entire Alabama state, and the cotton farmers worked hard for a year without harvest.
Severe insect infestation
The locals don't know anything but grow cotton, and in the face of a mess left by cottonseed weevils, Alabama people can't help but fall into contemplation.
Is it really necessary to plant cotton for a lifetime?
What if the next cottonseed weevil comes?
Still helpless now, waiting for bugs to come to the door?
The surprise attack of cottonseed weevils has sounded a wake-up call in the hearts of the people of Alabama, relying solely on the cotton industry to develop the local economy can only be a dead end, and several industries go hand in hand, and the local economic ecology can return to normal.
As a result, the Alabama government has taken the lead in developing the economy of other industries, encouraging local people to grow other crops such as corn, soybeans and tobacco, and enriching the local cash crop variety.
Developed agriculture
Since then, Alabama's economy has stopped fearing the invasion of cottonseed weevils as their industries diversify and become healthier.
The local people did not remember the revenge of the cottonseed weevil, but thanked the cottonseed weevil for the attack, taught them a lesson, and forcefully changed the local economic model in a forced way and promoted the local economic development.
The people of Alabama built a statue of the cottonseed weevil to commemorate the 1910 plague and, more importantly, thanks to the alarm bell sounded by the cottonseed weevil, if it were not for the timely arrival of the cottonseed weevil, perhaps a few years later, the local deformed economic model would be difficult to return to, and the return to heaven would be weak.
<h1>The weevil who walked to court</h1>
The courtroom is where judges try criminals, where lawyers argue for the truth.
court
We often see the lawyers sitting opposite each other and the judge sitting in the middle of the TV series, and they debate seriously and seriously, discuss justice, and seek the truth
In 16th-century Europe, a magical scene occurred in the courtroom, where local villagers sued the weevil, one side of the trial was a lawyer, the other side was the "weevil".
So, what the hell is going on?
In April 1545, a small European village in the Alps was infested with weevils, and the crops in the fields were mothed by weevils.
Villages under the Alps
The angry villagers sued the weevil in anger, and miraculously, the court actually accepted the complaint, and not only that, the judge also arranged two lawyers for the weevil, who defended the weevil who could not speak.
All things are equal before God, even the flowers and plants on the side of the road have the same right before the merciful God, and can stand before the judge and speak out for their rights, so it is very common for the Europeans at that time to sue the weevil, just as now our neighbor occupies an acre and a third of our land, and we are angry but take him to court, it is the same operation.
missionary
The lawyers of both sides argued on the spot in court, and both wanted to fight for the rights they deserved for their clients, and at the end of the trial, the judge could not make up his mind.
Because in medieval Europe, science is still in its infancy, the general public understands the world through religion, in the eyes of The Middle World Europeans, everything in the world is related to God, for example, you fell today, not because the road is uneven, nor because the soles of your feet slipped, this is God's will, God let you fall, you must fall; you make a small fortune in business, it is not because you get up early and work hard, it is God's distribution, God thinks that you are the time to get rich, so, You're rich.
Religious ceremonies
The judge concluded by suggesting that it was best for the villagers to pray and repent to God, and perhaps the weevil plague was God's will.
Gavel
The devout villagers did so, but the matter did not end perfectly. Two years later, the weevils made a comeback and raided the village again, the villagers were furious and took the weevils to court for the second time, and the judge assigned lawyers to the weevils as usual, and the lawyers also dutifully defended their clients.
The verdict of the second human vs. weevil is unknown, the book that records the case is in the archives, and the page of the trial result was eaten by the worm, which is probably doomed in the four meditations.
In daily life, we may rarely look at the elephant trunk insects, I believe that after reading, everyone will shout surprise, it turns out that the weevils are not only the model mothers who make cradles with rolled leaves, but also made a monument by the people of Alabama, and have also been in the court of mankind twice.
Well, this insect tour is over here, and I look forward to meeting you next time
(Some of the image source | network)
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