An Ideal Office Companion

Getting friendly.

Recently we have enjoyed the company of a strange and entertaining little creature in the office. It has peramulated solemnly around the desk, traversed the computer, clambered up the window and pertly reviewed the paperwork. It is a remarkable looking beast, with its enormously long proboscis and beady black eyes. For something so small and quiet it is very engaging.

Exploring the wilderness.

Its feet are extraordinarily grippy. You can't push it around. It must have soles like a gecko's, that interlink at a molecular level to the surface they are placed on. The only thing it can't seem to manage is the computer screen. At one stage it fell off and into an empty straight sided glass, which presented no problems. It was up on the rim in no time. Maybe the static electricity given off by the screen interferes with stickability of its feet.

Wistful.

Both Simon and I have been fascinated to watch it wandering about and performing quite amazing feats of climbing and exploration.

'Rock' climbing.

For those of you who were wondering, it's a female Nut Weevil Curculio nucum (le Balanin des noisettes in French). The long rostrum is for puncturing young hazel nuts to make a hole to lay her egg. Once the larva hatches it feeds on the nut. The 1-2mm round holes you find in hazel nut shells are from the grub chewing its way out in order to pupate in the soil. Males have shorter rostrums and antennae attached closer to the tip. The adults are seen in the spring and summer.

Susan