Squirrels not the only things that eat acorns around here

Jef Taylor introduces us to nut weevils, like the one he found inside the Franklin Park Zoo's library the other day.

Adults seek out acorns still on the tree, use their preposterous proboscis to drill through the nut shell, and feed on the meat inside. Females lay their eggs into these holes, and the legless larvae hatch and live within. The larva is somewhat protected by the seed shell, but a nut is no real obstacle to a squirrel, who will happily eat a fat weevil grub. One study showed that gray squirrels immediately consumed weevil-infested acorns 3/4 of the time they were available.