Friday, June 4, 2010

138 - "Slow Bug"


Another macro photo of a local insect.  We call these guys "slow bugs", on account of how they move very slowly.  They belong to the family Curculionidae, which includes over 60,000 species of weevils.  Curculionids are remarkable for being beetles with curved heads or snouts.

 Here, I've re-sized buggly so that he's close to his true size.  As far as I know, weevils are vegetarians, and some are destructive to our crops and food sources.  These particular bugs seem perfectly harmless.  My guess is that they feed on dead, decaying wood as scavenger beetles. 

They seem intent on scouting new territory outside of our backyard forest, and daily make their slow, methodical way through our house on their way to new frontiers.  When we find them, we pick them up and speed their progress out either the back or the front door.  If touched, the typical slow bug defense is to flip on their back, curl up their legs, and play dead!  If we wait a few moments, they will snap back onto their feet and continue on their way as if nothing has happened.