Boll Weevil - (Anthonomus grandis)

The Boll Weevil is historically known as the greatest pest that cotton plants growing in the South has ever faced.

Staff Writer (8/16/2017): The bane of cotton farmers in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Boll Weevil has been controlled and managed with good results in the 21st century. The only plant this particular weevil attacks is cotton, which happens to comprise the most popular fabric in North America. After heavy use of pesticides to reduce Boll Weevil populations did not completely eradicate their threat to cotton crops, the cotton plant itself was genetically altered to eliminate the Boll Weevil's interest in eating it. The Boll Weevil Eradication Program (BWEP) was initiated and a gene was inserted into the cotton plant's DNA that allowed the cotton plant to produce a chemical protein that is toxic to Boll Weevils. The effectiveness of this genetically modified cotton led to the drastic reduction in the amount of pesticides that are used on cotton plants.

A small percentage of farmers do not use the genetically altered cotton plant and are able to sell their organic cotton harvest which has recently become more attractive in the American clothing, linen and bedding markets. Natural predators of the Boll Weevil include spiders, fire ants and a parasitic wasp native to Mexico.

The Boll Weevil gets its name from the cotton bolls it destroyed. Bolls are the protective cases around the fibrous balls of cotton. As the cotton plant forms buds, the Boll Weevil devours the buds, preventing any usable cotton from developing.

The Boll Weevil itself has an extremely round body and can be a shade of brown or gray with short hairs covering its thorax and abdomen ('shoulders' and 'tail'). It has a tubular mouthpiece that resemble the shape of an anteater's snout or a downward-curved elephant's trunk.

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Details of the:
Boll Weevil

Category: Beetle
Common name: Boll Weevil
Scientific Name: Anthonomus grandis
Other Names: Weevil

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Curculionidae

Genus: Anthonomus

Species: grandis

Size (Adult, Length): 3mm to 13mm (0.12in to 0.51in)

Identifying Colors: brown; gray

Additional Descriptors: harmful, snout, trunk, nose, anteater, hairy

North American Reach (Though Not Limited To*): Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia

* Keep in mind that an insect's reach is not limited by lines on a map and therefore may appear in areas/regions/states beyond those listed above.

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