Saturday, May 22, 2010

Revenge of the weevil

Weevils are voracious feeders on many narrow and broad leaved trees, shrubs, strawberries and bramble fruits. The adults will do serious damage to the leaves while the larvae will feed on the roots and bore into the crowns. This guy somehow managed to land on my shoulder when I was watering some strawberry plants I have in hanging baskets. I thought keeping them off the ground would limit access to pests. Imagine my surprise when I looked over my shoulder to see this guy trying to whisper something in my ear ! I called him Kenneth as he was a bit of a daredevil but he had a definite link with the dark side. I guess you could call him Evil-Ken-Weevil !!



Rest in peace Kenneth.


Some time later while trying to unstuckify a set of extension ladders I banged my elbow. Damn hard too. It swelled up quite badly and I couldn't help thinking about karma and was the weevil going to have the last laugh on me. Speaking of karma I shudder to think what will happen when the slug karma kicks in, I squished seventeen of the blighters last night around my rhubarb and another eight this morning before breakfast !!



Not the greatest photo but Mrs Foxylock got a weakness and had to sit down upon seeing the bulge ..... on my elbow that is, careful now !! Anyway bless her she's a wee bit squeamish. It reminds me of the time I cut open the palm of my hand and she rushed me to the sink to help clean it up, as the flow of blood quickly reddened the sink my beloved nurse took a funny turn and ended up sitting on the bed with her head between her knees !! And then she goes through the whole childbirth thing without so much as a dizzy spell, but that's another story.

8 comments:

  1. Ouch, I don't know why people say hitting your funny bone it is anything but!I will have to check my strawberries and rhubarb now after reading this,I had noticed some holes in the rhubarb leaves but thought it would be too tough for anything to munch through...aggh!!

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  2. The fun is gone out of it now Peggy, Twas the slugs did the damage in the rhubarb bed. I have slug traps made from little " Petit Filous " pots in the brassica beds and they are working a treat. Everywhere else the divils are rampant but I'm sick with the thought of eating more of that stuff !!

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  3. Hi FL, this is my first visit. Love the latest post. Evil weevils are very familiar to me. I spent a whole summer of sleepless nights a couple of years ago trapping and squashing and drowning them. If you're desparate I suggest beneficial nematodes. Never hurt my elbow but maybe the karma is still coming ... the thing about childbirth is that you don't see what's happening like you do if there's blood in the sink!!!!!!cheers, catmint

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  4. Thanks for the comment catmint and welcome.

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  5. I hope your elbow is much better now. I'm glad to say goodbye to the evil weevils too.

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  6. Thank you Autum Belle my apologies for the late reply, I think I chipped the bone but I'm glad to say I'm back in action now !!

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  7. Umm, That picture of that Beetle is 'Not' a Weevil, it's a Tiger Beetle.
    ----------------------------
    http://www.google.com/search?q=tiger+beetle&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ErklT87nBJCksQLkn-GMAg&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=653
    ----------------------------
    Saigo.
    Kujikuri666@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Umm, That picture of that Beetle is 'Not' a Weevil, it's a Tiger Beetle.
    ----------------------------
    http://www.google.com/search?q=tiger+beetle&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ErklT87nBJCksQLkn-GMAg&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=653
    ----------------------------
    Saigo.
    Kujikuri666@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

Go on you're here now you might as well get it off your chest !!