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The Granary Weevil: Pantry Monster of Our Own Creation
- gumby 8y agoSomething didn't make sense to me: if the weevil evolved in the Himalayas and spread by human contact, how could there be a maize weevil when human colonization of the americas predated agriculture and then restarted only about 600 years ago? Turns out it goes after all sorts of grains, and is even referred to in the US mostly as a rice weevil. Which is a relief, as otherwise the rest of the article would be dubious. It looks like it was named as such solely because it was first identified as a species in the late 1800s, presumably in a transplanted crop. It's also annoying that NPR called it "sitophilius" which doesn't make sense (the genus is actually Sitophilus -- "grain lover" which makes more sense, though that typo seems for some reason to be pervasive).