Histrionics

My bedroom window stays open a crack year-round. It invites in a steady stream of critters; beetles, crickets, spiders,  harvestmen, ants, and sometimes weevils. I discovered this weevil on the wall in a spot within reach.

Running, running, running.

This was the first weevil I had noticed with yellow patches on its back, so I captured it and brought out the camera and lights. But it would just not stop racing, around and around the rim of the plastic tray I had set it on.

So (and I don't like to do this, but there seemed to be no other solution) I set it on a plastic bag of ice substitute from the freezer.

The label says "NON-TOXIC". Should be safe.

The weevil did not respond well; it slowed down, but almost immediately curled up, shrinking into itself. I tried it with a buffer between it and the ice. No luck. It looked dead. I felt awful.

I laid it to rest on a piece of towelling. It didn't move; it didn't stretch out. I waited. It still wasn't moving. It still looked very dead. I forget why, but instead of tossing it in the trash, I left it, with the towelling, on a shelf. Maybe, without actually thinking of it, I remembered weevils' skills at playing dead.

Sure enough, when I looked again a few hours later, the weevil had left. I found it on the top of an old hankerchief box.

Not dead after all.

And back to its old tricks. Racing about, across the box, onto the shelf, down a crack behind a cabinet. So I got no more photos, but at least I no longer felt guilty for killing it.

It's Otiorhynchus sultatus, the Black Vine beetle.

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La ventana de mi recámara se mantiene abierta, por lo menos un poco, todo el año. Así que sirve de invitación para una variedad de criaturas; escarabajos, grillos, arañas, opilones, hormigas, y a veces gorgojos.

Descubrí este pequeño gorgojo en la pared en un sitio accesible.

Primera foto: está que corre, corre, y corre.

Este fue el primer gorgojo que había visto con manchas amarillas, así que lo capturé y procedí a tratar de sacar una buena foto. Pero no se detenía ni por un momento, dando vuelta tras vuelta sobre la orilla de la charolita de plástico donde le había colocado para la foto.

Para calmarle un poco (y no me gusta hacer esto, pero el bicho no me daba otro remedio) le trasladé a una bolsa de hielo del congelador.

Segunda foto; ¡hace frio! La etiqueta lee "NON-TOXIC".

No me sirvió. Al principio, el gorgojo se detuvo, pero en un momento se encogió, retrayendo todas las patas y las antenas. Y parecía estar muerto. Y no revivió, ni protegiéndolo de lo peor del frio, ni después regresándolo a la charola donde antes corría. Me sentía culpable.

Lo coloqué para descansar sobre un pedazo de toalla. Esperé. No se movía, no se estiraba. Se veía completamente muerto. No me acuerdo precisamente porque, pero en vez de tirarlo, lo puse en un estante con su toalla. Tal vez, sin pensarlo, me acordaba de la capacidad que tienen los gorgojos de hacerse el muerto por largos intervalos.

Cuando más tarde volví a mirar, el gorgojo se había ido. Lo encontré en la tapa de una caja antigua para pañuelos.

Tercera foto: en la caja. Y no está muerto.

Y estaba tan activo como al principio. Cuando moví la caja, se echó a correr; cruzó la caja, el estante, y desapareció tras un gabinete. Pero por lo menos ya no me sentía culpable de nada.

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.