Granary Weevil

• It cannot fly: its wings are atrophied and it has entirely lost the ability to disperse on its own, so it travels only with grain moved by people.
• Its remains have been found in Neolithic and ancient Egyptian granaries: it has accompanied agriculture since its beginnings.
• An infested grain looks intact from the outside until the adult emerges, which makes detecting the infestation in time enormously difficult.
• It does not fly: its wing cases are fused and its hindwings reduced. It travels solely with the grain we move.
• The female bores into the grain, lays a single egg inside and seals the hole with a gelatinous plug that hardens at once. The larva and pupa develop entirely inside the grain.
• That is why an infestation goes unnoticed until the adults bore their way out through the husk, by which time the damage is done.
• A single pair can leave up to 6,000 descendants in a year.
• Its continuous respiration creates hot spots in the silo, raising the temperature and adding moisture, which cakes the grain.

Habitat & environment

Granaries, silos and cereal stores worldwide

Gestation / incubation

The cycle takes about five weeks in summer and up to twenty in cold conditions

Litter / clutch size

From 150 to 300 eggs, one per grain

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitophilus_granarius