PECAN WEEVIL

Common Name: Pecan Weevil

Scientific Name: Order Coleoptera, family Curculionidae, Curculio caryae

Size: Adult - 3/8", larva - 3/5"

Identification: Brownish weevils covered with yellow hairs. The female's snout is as long as the body. Larvae are creamy white grubs that overwinter in earthen cells 1 to 2 inches in the ground.

Biology and Life Cycle: The larvae stay in the soil for one to two years, pupate in the fall, hatch three weeks later, stay in the soil for another year, and emerge in the fall to mate. The females deposit two to four eggs in as many as twenty-five pecans.

Habitat: Pecan and hickory. Only certain pecan groves.

Feeding Habits: Late-season pest. Adults feed on nuts in the water stage. Eggs are deposited when kernels are young and starting to mature.

Economic Importance: Infestations can destroy a large portion of pecan crops.

Natural Control: Beneficial nematodes and other soil microorganisms.

Organic Control: Establish healthy, resistant trees by building soil health so beneficial microbes in the soil can attack grubs, especially since the weevil larvae spend so much time in the soil. Jarring infested trees has been used to catch "possum-playing" adults.


 

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