Insect and Spider Identification: Weevil Identification, 1 by vander_gander

vander_gander wrote:
Hello!

I was hiking nearby to Austin, TX recently and along the hike found what appeared to be an acorn-like object, although with slightly different shape, outer texture, and inner structure/material. It was lying in a dried up creek bed. Out of curiosity, I broke open the object and in the very center there was a small grub hiding out.

I\'ve heard of weevil larvae that grow inside of acorns and burrow their way out, but I\'m curious about the specifics of this case. First off, what kind of plant object is this? Neither the outside nor the inside looks like an acorn. Second, is there a way to identify the exact type of larvae inside?

I don\'t have a great picture of the outside of the plant object, but I can say it had a light brown and slightly bumpy outer casing and was surprisingly difficult to crack open. It took several whacks with a small rock. The grub appears to be inside a smaller spherical shell in the middle, perhaps where a seed used to be? I have no idea which tree it came from, there were too many to choose from, and it may have just floated down the creek at some point.

Thanks for any help on this!