Regarding pests, weevils (Curculionidae) are one of the most feared that can be easily found in gardens and homes. Some of the most common are wood weevils, which feed mainly on wood.
If you want to know better these small insects to be able to prevent their unwanted visit or combat their presence if you already suffer from it, keep reading this Green Ecologist article about how to remove weevils from house and plants.
Weevils, also known as weevils or curculionidsare a whole family of coleopteran insects with more than 86,000 species.
They are from the family of beetles, and do not usually measure more than 5 mm in length in their adult state. They have a brown body and their diet is herbivorous, thus devouring plants and wood of all kinds depending on each specific species.
Although they do not attack human beings, they are materially harmful due to the speed at which they can feed on wood in furniture and even structures, becoming dangerous in homes with a lot of wood, or houses made with wood in its entirety. , if their presence goes unnoticed for a long time.
Other types, however, attack only different parts of plants, but the range of threat extends to much of the crops, posing a particularly serious problem for farmers.
Some weevil species what's up:
If you find these insects anywhere in your home, the first thing you should do is remove them and thoroughly clean the entire area. If they were in an area with food or food that was not properly closed, you should get rid of them because they could have contaminated the food and be a source of infections and diseases.
Use insecticide in any area where you have seen them or where you think they may be, whether it is a specialized chemical insecticide or if it is homemade insecticide for weevils that you have prepared yourself, as we will teach you to do later.
If you think you have located the food they came from, a very good solution is to freeze the food for at least four full days. In this way, both the larvae and the adult specimens will die from the cold, and you do not risk them spreading again from the garbage or in any other way.
On the other hand, if they are not indoors but there are weevils on the plants in your garden, eliminating them can be a bit more complicated. Weevils tend to feed at night and hide during the day to avoid predators, so you'll need a flashlight to find them. overnight, at which point you can see them nibbling on the edges of the leaves. If the larvae have not yet appeared, removing them by hand like this will be sufficient. If this is not the case, you will have to resort to insecticides.
Thus, for remove weevils from plants you can use two methods:
There are several natural substances that you can use in your fight against the weevil so that you do not have to resort to artificial chemicals.
Bay leaves and neem or neem leaves are an easily acquired natural substance that serve to ward off this pest. Extract some fresh leaves from the plant or buy these fresh leaves, as dry and without wetting them do not have the same effect, and place them in the spaces or plants where you have seen them. Keep in mind that you will need to replace the leaves when they have dried or you can no longer easily distinguish their smell.
If the area to be covered is large, it will be better to make the insecticide with a liquid base. To do this, follow these steps:
In this other Green Ecologist article you can learn more about How to make natural insecticides for plants. And if you are interested in taking care of your plants in an ecological way, we recommend this other post on How to combat pests in organic farming.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to get rid of weevils, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.