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 This is a large weevil (ca. 1 cm long)
a pigmentation that range from gray to yellow to orange and black. Originating in the Caribbean it arrived in Florida by the
1960s. Larvae feed on roots and cause
serious damage to ornamental plantings, citrus and other agricultural
crops. The weevil had spread to Texas
by the year 2000, and in southern California by 2005. Dispersal is probably via potted citrus or
ornamentals shipped from Florida to California.
Adults
will feed on leaves producing a notching pattern, but the larvae do the most
damage by feeding on roots over year.
Such feeding eventually girdles the root crown, and the plant
dies. There is a wide host range of
over 273 plant species. In some cases
citrus root damage leads to Phytophthora
infection and hasten a tree's demise.
In southern California infestations are found only in urban areas and
a few citrus orchards, quarantines hold the pest in check.
Several biological control agents are being studied for supressing the
weevil, including ants, parasitic wasps, an insect virus, a bacterium, and a
fungus. A parasitic nematode Steinernema riobravis was introduced in irrigation
water for control in Florida to combat the pest.
REFERENCES:
Beavers J. B & A. G. Selhime. 1978.
Flight behavior and dispersal of Diaprepes
abbreviatus. Florida Entomologist
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Citrus Root Weevil, Diaprepes
abbreviatus. 2021. Texas
State University Invasives. 2021: 7-16.
Diaprepes Root
Weevil. 2019. Center
for Invasive Species Research University of
California, Riverside. 2019: 12-26.
Duncan L. W., R. J. Stuart, F. G. Gmitter
& S. L. LaPointe. 2009.
Use of landscape frabric to manage Diaprepes
root weevil in citrus groves. Florida
Entomologist 92: 74-79.
Jetter, K. M. &
K. Godfrey. 2009. Diaprepes
root weevil, a new California pest, will raise costs for pest control and
trigger quarantines. California
Agriculture 63 (3): 121-126.
Mayer, R. T., W. B. Hunter, S. L. Lapointe, C. L.
McKenzie, R. Shatters, J. Shapiro, H. Doostdar &
A. A. Weathersbee. 2001a.
Diaprepes root weevil: recent
advances at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory, Ft. Pierce. Part
I. Citrus & Vegetable. July:
9-12.
Mayer, R. T., W. B. Hunter, S. L. Lapointe, C. L.
McKenzie, R. Shatters, J.
Shapiro, H. Doostdar &
A. A. Weathersbee. 2001b. Diaprepes
root weevil: recent advances at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory,
Ft. Pierce. Part II. Citrus &
Vegetable. 2001. August: 8-13.
Schroeder, W. J.
1981. Attraction, mating, and
oviposition behavior in field populations of Diaprepes
abbreviatus on citrus.
Environmental Entomology 10:
898-900.
Simpson, S. E.,
H. N. Nigg, N. C. Coile
& R. A. Adair. 1996.
Diaprepes abbreviatus
(Coleoptera: Curculionidae): Host plant association. Environmental Entomology 25: 333-349.
Weissling, Thomas J.; Jorge E. Peņa;
Robin M. Giblin-Davis & Joseph L. Knapp, Jr. 2010. Diaprepes Root
Weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus
(Linnaeus) (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Electronic Data Information
Source. University of Florida IFAS
Extension. 2010: 7-9.
Wolcott, G. N.
1936. The life history of Diaprepes abbreviatus, at Rio Piedras,
Puerto Rico. Journal of Agriculture
University of Puerto Rico 20:
883-914.
Woodruff, R. E.
1968. The present status of a
West Indian (Diaprepes abbreviata
(L.)) in Florida (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,
Division of Plant Industry Entomology Circular 77.
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