Stats

Lifespan

A few months

Size

Tiny

Diet

Herbivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Tropical forest

Range

Southeast Asia

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Armor

Status

Rare

About

This tiny beetle lives inside grains of rice, wheat, and maize. The female uses her long snout to drill a hole in a kernel and lays a single egg inside.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Curculionidae

Genus

Sitophilus

Species

Sitophilus oryzae