With their mouths on the ends of long snouts, they can drill holes in plants, into which they deposit their eggs through a special ovipositor, or egg-laying tube. This protects their larvae and gives them a separate food source from adults so they are not in competition. They are tightly associated with specific plants, giving them especially important roles within eco-systems. With some 60,000 species in a number of families, they are also highly diverse and specialised, even for a family of beetles.
