Temptation

Weevils excel at playing dead. I barely touch one, and it immediately curls up and freezes. Then I can pick it up, move it about, turn it over, and it never twitches, not even the tip of an antenna. Unless ...

I saw this very small weevil walking along the edge of my keyboard, and brushed her* off onto a sheet of paper. Now she's "dead".**

After about 12 minutes with not a quiver from little Weev', I put a fragment of moistened prune in front of her. Her self-control wavered, and she lifted those antennae, then remembered, and froze in that position for another 10 minutes.

Total: 23 minutes of playing possum, and now, dinner!

And I compliment the dog next door when she sits for 30 seconds, waiting for her treat.

*Many species of the Broad-nosed weevil sub-family are parthenogenetic on this continent; in other words, all the individuals are female.

**She's covered in spider web. Looks like she fooled the spider, too.