Life in side an Acorn

Acorn Weevil Lab

Life inside an acorn

 What do you know about oak trees& acorns?

 There is a whole world that we overlook everyday & we will discover this wonderful world with this lab  BE EXCITED!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!

Acorn Insects

   Over 100 species of insects feed on the nuts of North American trees  including acorns  produced by oaks. We will be focusing on the interactions of:     acorn weevils acorn moth filbertworm Wasps These insects destroy so many nuts that it is difficult for trees to reproduce.

Acorn Weevil

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1/2 inch long

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have snouts with small, saw like teeth.

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two types of acorn weevil

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the long-snouted acorn weevils

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snout equal to or greater than length of body.

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Eat acorns still attached to tree

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short-snouted ones

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snout is ½ or less than its body

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Eat Acorns fallen on ground

Life cycle of Weevil

    Legless, grub-like acorn weevil larvae hatch from eggs a few days after they are laid.

Go through five growth stages, or instars. a few weeks, larvae chew their way out of the acorn, burrow into the soil to pupate eventually emerge as adults in 1 or more years.

Life Cycle of Acorn Moth

     The grayish female acorn moths lay eggs in damaged acorns  sometimes from the holes of acorn weevil larvae. It's easy to distinguish the acorn moth larva from acorn weevil larvae. The acorn moth larva has three pairs of legs near the head & is generally longer than the legless, fat larvae of acorn weevils. Acorn moth Larva feed on acorns & on the fungi that often grow in damaged acorns. They usually pupate inside the acorns

Caterpillars & Moth

Life Cycle of Filbertworm

 The filbertwormis a moth whose larvae closely resemble the acorn moth, is also often found in acoms.  Acorn moth attacks acorns on the ground  the filbertworm attacks developing acorns on the trees.

Gall Wasps

 Adult females lay their eggs in female flowers of oaks in the spring  causes galls-abnormal growths of plant tissue,  Gall wasp larvae live in and feed on the plant tissue inside the galls.  External galls drop off the acorns in the autumn.

Hypothesis

 I think, ____ out of 3 acorns will be infested because________________________________ Remember there is no right or wrong in science, just educated guesses based on knowledge

 3 Acorns  String  Ruler  Pliers

Materials

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LAB Procedure

Find 3 Acorns outside  Draw a picture of your 3 acorns Measure & record the 3 acorns’ Diameter-width around acorn (string & ruler)  Weight-in grams Crack open acorn and search the “meat” Record if it is “Infested” or “Not Infested”  If infested, record if weevil larva or caterpillars larva

Acorn Drawing

Data (#s)

Diameter in mm Weight in grams Infected/Not Infected

Calcuations

 Class Tally  Infected/Not infected  Figure %  # Infested/Total acorns

Conclusion

 Was your hypothesis supported of rejected?

 What are some sources of possible error?

 If we were to repeat the experiment, name 1 thing you would do differently  What is something new you learned?

New Questions

 Come up with 3 new questions on the Acorn Weevil Lab