Maize Weevil (کونڑ)
When the farmers store the maize rice or other cearls,some time, it has been found a flour-like grain dust, mixed with frass in stored grains that is due to Infestations of maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) or the greater rice weevil.This Weevil feed on the interior of individual grains, often leaving only the hulls. Infested grains contain holes through which adults have emerged.
A possible indication of infestation is grain, when placed in water, floating to the surface.Ragged holes in individual grains, similar to damage caused by the rice weevil and granary weevil, may indicate infestation. In large stores of grain, an increase in temperature may be detected.It has been studied that the female chews through the surface of the grain, creating a hole then deposits a small oval white egg, and covers the hole with a waxy secretion that creates a plug.The plug quickly hardens, and leaves a small raised area on the seed surface. This provides the only visible evidence that the kernel is infested.It take atleast 36 days .It is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae. It can be found in numerous tropical areas around the world and is amajor pest of maize.This species attacks both standing crops and stored cereal products, including wheat, rice, sorghum oats, barley, rye, buckwheatpeas, and cottonseed.
The maize weevil has a length of 2.3 mm to 4.9 mm. The type of food consumed by the larvae influences the size of the adult with different range on different cereals . This small, brown weevil has four reddish-brown spots on the wing covers (elytra). It has a long, thin snout, and geniculate (elbowed) antennae.Sitophilus zeamais appears similar to the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), but has more clearly marked spots on the wing covers, and is usually somewhat larger.It is able to flyThe maize weevil and the rice weevil look very much alike but external features can be used to differentiate the vast majority of adults. However, the only reliable features to distinguish adults of both species are the genitalia Both species can hybridize. It occurs throughout warm, humid regions around the world, especially in locations where maize is grown.
The severity of a maize weevil infestation can be reduced by good store hygiene: cleaning the store between harvests, removing and burning infested residues, fumigating the store to eliminate residual infestations and the selection of only uninfested material for storage.
