 How do people go through life not knowing what weevils are? I was talking about ants to a teacher the other day and mentioned something about weevils & they were like "what are weevils?" "Like beetles but with the long snoot to drill acorns and trees." "drill acorns!?" "That's how they end up hollow" "oh." "That's how acorn ants have a place to live!" "oh. I didn't know so much was going on in acorns." "That's not even the tip of the iceberg!" I'm astonished. 55 comments
   @futurebird I learned about weevils as a kid, from reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by AVI. There were weevils in the shipboard flour, if I recall correctly. π  @futurebird I'm old enough to remember stories about weevils in ships hard tack (biscuits) and my granddad talking about them. @futurebird Cars are manufactured by different makers, using different parts that canβt be used on other cars. Some are imperial, some are metric. But there is one part that can be reused on any car (and bicycle)β¦the lowly Schrader valve. It keeps the air in your tires. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrader_valve @obviousdwest @futurebird @nomi @obviousdwest @futurebird I expect this will be the most interesting fact I learn all day, if not all week. Thank you!  @obviousdwest Speaking as somebody who prefers Schrader valves on her bicycles, I assure you that there's plenty of bicycles out there that are entirely incompatible with these.  @obviousdwest @futurebird Also presta valves if you need to hold higher pressure (usually on road bikes)  @futurebird "What's My Weevil?" The new game show, starring Kitty Carlisle..... @ColesStreetPothole Also, the catchphrase of Behind the Weevils, a nature show by Robert Evans.  @Lily_and_frog @ColesStreetPothole @futurebird scary/cute is a very weevil aesthetic   @futurebird There is no such thing as too much talk about ants, especially from you.  @futurebird @GuyDudeman @futurebird I was the only one in a Finnish cinema to snort aloud at the jokeβ¦ I know someone who stood up at that moment, and said "That's it! I'm out!" and they left the theater. They couldn't handle that joke. There were other things about the movie that annoyed them, and that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. @GuyDudeman @futurebird This comes back time and again in the books. There's always a new audience. @futurebird most people arenβt very curious. Or all that bright. I feel like these things may be somehow loosely connected. ;) Huh. The only weevil I knew of was the boll weevil. I had no idea they branched out into woody things. @futurebird Contrary to popular misconception, boll weevils don't hollow Uwe Bolls, though. @futurebird Also, this is where I ask you what your favourite weevil scene in a film isβ¦ (I mean itβs gotta be from Master & Commander, right?)  @futurebird My grandfather was a cotton farmer in Oklahoma! So definitely we know about weevilsβ¦ they're why he had to switch to growing sesame seeds D: @futurebird Finally, a use for the one Animal Crossing critter pun that made me laugh so hard I still can't think about it with a straight face.   @futurebird Even the really old / modern pun of when sailors were eating hard tack, and banging it on the table or deck to knock the weevils out, to choose the lesser of two weevils. Honestly they probably need more protein, so they might actually choose the greater of two weevils. A sailor's life was definitely not on the fun side if you look forward to seeing how many weevils you're going to get. @futurebird @xris I know what weevils are from growing up poor and my mom buying whole grains (way cheaper) on hand to grind for flour. Weevils love grains. @futurebird Also known as the Greater Rice Weevil. Maize Weevils are frequently regarded as primary pests of grain since they are able to infest otherwise undamaged grain. They have also been seen to infest buckwheat, peas, acorns, chestnuts and cottonseed. @futurebird I knew nothing about weevils, had heard the name but no idea what they actually were. All of a sudden my son became obsessed with weevils, so Iβm learning fast! They are really cute!   @futurebird i didnβt know anything about weevils and this was delightful to read thank you  @futurebird it's not like I know a lot about weevils but I love their name in Spanish, they're called "gorgojos" π idk, I love the sound of it  @j3j5 @toolbear @futurebird haha, not that I know of, but some of the most dangerous ones, like the one destroying palm trees have an even funnier name, "picudos", from there beak-like (beak=pico) snouts.   @futurebird I know about weevils from seeing them in an open bag of flour. Clearly weevils get around.   @futurebird I used to think they were some kind of rodent until a couple years ago on the last site when everyone was posting that scene from (I think) Master and Commander and it learned they were bugs. @futurebird I developed the notion at some point when I was young that weevils were a type of fairy or some other mythical creature I've lost count of how many times I've mentioned a thing that I assumed was common knowledge, only to discover that the other person had no idea what it even was. |
Gregory's Server
Imagine just walking around with no idea that weevils exist.
I wonder what's my weevil. There's got to be something like that I have no idea about. It's probably related to driving a car.