USDA Agricultural Research Service

Weevil6

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Imagine a prank where somebody leaves a piece of cake in the middle of a huge poison ivy patch. If the school bullies try to steal the cake, they'll get an itchy case of poison ivy! Bruck's solution works the same way. He lures the weevils in with one of their favorite foods. When they come to eat it, they run into the deadly spores, with gross results.

A healthy larva looks like this:

Photo: Full-grown larva of black vine weevil. It looks kind of like a white cheese puff.

But infected larvae look like this:

Photo: Black vine weevil larva infected with an entomopathogenic fungus. It looks something like a marshmallow that's been melted in the microwave.