Weevils from the Philippines resemble tiny jewels, their shells glittering with green circles on a backdrop of burnished gold. Australia has its own startling menagerie. He arrived in 1972, invited by the csiro to compile the first monograph on Australia's weevil fauna. The project has produced five volumes of text and color plates, each about 700 pages long. The difference between species is often as minute as the length of antennae, but it can distinguish a crop-destroying weevil from a harmless one.
Many weevils are useful, pollinating rare flowers or eating the aggressive water weed Salvinia.
Zimmerman plans to add another three volumes to Australian Weevils. But the paucity of information on weevils anywhere means he is overwhelmed with requests for help from overseas. The workload would be burdensome for an entomologist half his age. Zimmerman knows he may not have time to complete his opus. With so much yet to do, he finds it hard to sleep.