Grain Weevils
March 2, 2010
I was shocked to read repeatedly on your site that bugs called grain weevils are not harmful to humans. If you did the proper research, you would find that inhalation of dust from the grain weevil causes a serious illness in humans called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which results in pulmonary fibrosis and is FATAL. I know this because I have this illness, which I contracted from an infestation of grain weevils from a box of dry pet food. If you look up hypersensitivity pneumonitis in any medical textbook, you will find that Miller’s Lung, caused by the grain weevil, is one of the causes of this fatal disease.
Goldy G.

Dear Goldy G.
We will research this condition and link to findings on the web.  Here is what we found upon researching Miller’s Lung.

What is this bug?
February 25, 2010
My dad was bitten by this bug while on holiday in Paphos, any idea what kind of beetle it is?
Any
Paphos

Red Palm Weevil

Dear Any,
This is a Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.  According to M. Ferry and S. Gómez who wrote the paper “The Red Palm Weevil in the Mediterranean Area” which is posted online on the Palm’s Journal, “The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, has become the most important pest of the date palm in the world.”  We were not aware that Red Palm Weevils would bite humans, and we believe this was an anomoly.  We suspect David Gracer might be writing that the grubs are edible.

halifax nova scotia inquiry
February 17, 2010
I sent you a pic and question the other day before these ones you have been answering? Must be out of your knowledge or something? I have better things to do than check back here daily to see you skipped me and answered everyone else inquiring after me. How do you guys operate at this site anyways? Favorites first?
Mad in canada
nova scotia

Granary Weevil

Dear Mad in canada,
We operate on a volunteer basis and we try to answer as many letters as possible, and we can’t imagine anyone having anything better to do than to visit our website multiple times each day.  We do not answer on a first come first served basis, and we randomly select from the numerous identification requests we receive daily to pick website content that we think will interest our readership.  Our time is also limited, and we are never able to respond to every request.  Though we have received much more vile letters that have earned their writers the Nasty Reader Award, your lack of patience and your presumptuosness have landed you spot number 7 on our list of Nasty Readers.  This is a Granary Weevil in the genus Sitiphilus which may be compared to images posted to BugGuide.  Use some of your free time now that you will not need to visit us any longer, and search your home for the site of infestation, which might be stored pet food or bird seed.

Thanks alot its about time. I personally run websites myself and you do see the people who are visiting and their ip where they are and how many times they been there. Dont blame your lack of proffesionalism on me.
As for infestation don’t you think it could be the indoor vegatation in my home? They were not anywhere near a kitchen. As for the nasty email I sent this morning I didn’t really think untill I read your disclaimer after it already went though. Now that you have helped a person in need with their home not just some random question thanks alot

Once more I would like to apoligize but your still wrong. It is not a granary weevil yes I agree it is a weevil but if you checked both pictures I sent you would see it does not have a snoutc

Here is a different picture where you can see the antanae are at the tip of the nose not halfway back

Root Weevil

Dear [no longer] Mad,
Thanks for the additional photo.  After posting three letters this morning, we must leave our home website office and go to work.  Weevils are the largest group of insects, and it may take time to correctly identify this species.  Our readership does post comments and you might want to consider checking back to see if someone has made an identification.  As far as our professionalism goes, we do not manage our own website, nor monitor its traffic.  Our web host does that.  All we do is post content and try to respond to our readership’s queries.

Dear Mr Marlos,
Thank you very much for your humble proffesionalism. I am sorry I was so upset >:[ These weeviles are turning me evil. I won’t be of bother to you anymore and will continue to check now and again to see if anyone else had clarified the identification. I am sure you all try the best you can and it is appreciated that you all do this volunteerly. One more time I extend my deepest apology. You do run a great website and I promise to never offend any of you again. Keep up the dedication to something you love and have a great day at work. Thank you very much
Your’s
NoLongerMad ^^

Dear No Longer Mad,
Your gracious subsequent letters have redeemed you, and though we no longer consider you to be a Nasty Reader, we are keeping the tag as a document of ironing out differences.

Update from Eric Eaton
February 17, 2010
Daniel:
Well, I can tell you that it is definitely not a granary weevil.  If granary weevils ever get that big, we are all going to starve.  LOL!  This is probably one of the “root weevils” in the genus Otiorhynchus, maybe the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, but I can’t be positive.
Root weevils are flightless, mostly nocturnal, and frequently invade homes while looking for mates and food.  I do not know if they overwinter as adults, but it certainly seems plausible.
Hope this helps you and the (former) “Nasty Reader.” 
Eric

Tiny bugs on windowsill
January 11, 2010
Every hour I have to vacuum these MANY tiny bugs from my window sills in the front room of my home. They sometimes appear on my kitchen stove (although less often), and the kitchen window sill as well. Most of the time they are either dead, or are dying (or they appear to be). I have even found them crawling on my neck! I can’t seem to find out how they are getting in my home, although i suspect they are crawling in through cracks or small openings in and around the windows. They seem to accumulate near the window where my wood stove is located. Thank you for your help in identifying these pests, and please let me know if I need to exterminate.
Baffled New Englander
Southeastern Massachusetts

Bark Beetle or Ambrosia Beetle

Dear Baffled,
WE are also a bit puzzled.  The distinctive shape of your beetle and the clubbed antennae disqualifies most of the typical household pantry beetles we typically identify.  We have eliminated the North American Flour Beetle, Tribolium brevicornis, which can be viewed on BugGuide.  We believe your culprits are in the superfamily Bostrichoidea, which contains many household intruders, including Carpet Beetles, Powder Post Beetles, Deathwatch Beetles, and Spider Beetles, but we had no luck sorting through the superfamily on BugGuide.  We can tell you what it is not, but not what it is.  It is the middle of the night, and we will have to wait until tomorrow for a response, but we hope Eric Eaton will have more luck with the identity of this curious specimen.

Eric Eaton provides information
Daniel:
Good news:  The beetles are not infesting any foods in the pantry, or clothing in the closet.  The image shows some kind of bark or ambrosia beetle, family Curculionidae, subfamily Scolytinae.  I am not a specialist in these, but I do know someone who is (Dr. Stephanie Dole), and will see what she has to say.  I’d bet these are emerging from stored firewood.
Eric

I’m very relieved to hear that! Thank you very much! I wonder, though, why these bugs seem to be coming in from where the windows are (One window is about 2-3 feet away from the wood stove). Our firewood is stored outside, and only brought in as needed. If they are somehow in/on the firewood, how did they get on the windowsills? We have two Bay windows, and each are approximately 9-10 feet apart from one another.
[Baffled]