{"id":4983,"date":"2025-08-04T14:17:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T14:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/?p=4983"},"modified":"2026-06-28T14:19:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:19:58","slug":"2025-08-couple-of-red-and-black-weevils-of-puyo-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/posts\/2025-08-couple-of-red-and-black-weevils-of-puyo-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Love in the afternoon: The red-and-black weevils of Puyo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cocklebur weevils (genus <em>Rhodobaenus<\/em>) are a fascinating group of striking, red-and-black snout beetles distributed widely across the Americas, reaching their highest diversity in the Neotropics. Like many true weevils, they are masters of a dramatic survival tactic known as thanatosis: when threatened, they instantly retract their legs and snout, dropping motionlessly to the ground to blend with the leaf litter and deceive predators. Adult beetles feed externally on the leaves and stems of specific plants within the <em>Asteraceae<\/em> (sunflower) family\u2014such as ragweed, ironweed, and cockleburs\u2014while their larvae tunnel through and feed exclusively on the internal, spongy pith of these host stems. I caught these two beautifully patterned individuals completely unbothered by my camera, caught in an intimate moment of mating while exploring a lush city park in Puyo, on the edge of the Ecuadorian Amazon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cocklebur weevils (genus Rhodobaenus) are a fascinating group of striking, red-and-black snout beetles distributed widely across the Americas, reaching their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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