We are a very big family starting a very small farm in the Gaspereau Valley of Nova Scotia.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
In contrast...
Nature Girl did her own mini harvest on the way home from school. I'm not looking forward to the worms coming out but I think we have 144 acorns now for our times tables work!
Well now I always just accepted these wormy guys but now you've made me find out!
"The white worms are immature larvae of a type of nut weevil.
Many nut weevils feed on acorns. Adult females chew holes in immature nuts with their long slender snouts so they have a place to lay eggs. The larvae hatch and feed for several weeks inside the acorns. Eventually, the acorns drop. The weevil larvae move out soon after the nuts are on the ground. They burrow into the soil where they eventually pupate. These weevils are present every year, but their numbers vary."
I expect we get so many here because we like picking them when they're still green and letting them ripen here.
7 comments:
Worms?
Yes, worms more than 50% of acorns have a little worm inside.
I had no idea. Last year I collected a whole bunch of them from the Experimental Farm and kept them in a bowl on the table.
They aren't gross worms really!
Tiny little guys.
The dog does not play, but she crunches all acorns she finds with a worm, maybe she hears them?
Look at your acorns when they've aged a month or so, more than half will have a tiny hole in them from where the worm crawled out.
Duncan might eat the worms too.
Do those worms grow in there? How does that happen? Does someone lay an egg in an acorn or what? That's really odd
Well now I always just accepted these wormy guys but now you've made me find out!
"The white worms are immature larvae of a type of nut weevil.
Many nut weevils feed on acorns. Adult females chew holes in immature nuts with their long slender snouts so they have a place to lay eggs. The larvae hatch and feed for several weeks inside the acorns. Eventually, the acorns drop. The weevil larvae move out soon after the nuts are on the ground. They burrow into the soil where they eventually pupate. These weevils are present every year, but their numbers vary."
I expect we get so many here because we like picking them when they're still green and letting them ripen here.
wow, i found your blog on a search for waldorf homeschooling blogs, and look - i found a great little science lesson! thanks! :)
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