Chestnut Weevil

Dr. D. L. Horton, Professor and Extension Entomologist, The University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, Athens, GA 30602, Dr. H C Ellis, Professor and Extension Entomologist, The University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, Tifton, GA 31793

Description: Adults are small (4.5 - 7 mm), brown, snout beetles. Thorax and elytra are marked with yellow scales. The male has a snout shorter than hisbody. The female snout is longer than herbody. Larvae are creamy white, c-shaped grubs, with brown heads, about 5 -7 mm long. Life History: Adult weevils emerge from the soil in August and September and cause feeding damage by piercing nuts with their long, slender snout. After

18 larvae from one chestnut Photo by: Jim Dutcher, UGA

Control: Populations of chestnut weevil can be suppressed by good cultural and sanitation practices. In home plantings, nuts should be gathered daily as soon as they fall and stored so that emerging weevil larvae cannot enter the soil to reinfest. If all newly emerged larvae are destroyed for a period of 3 - 4 consecutive years, weevil populations can be reduced to tolerable levels. Three to four applications of insecticide beginning about August 7 - 10, and repeated at 10-day intervals, will provide control of adult chestnut weevils.

In: Roberts, P. M. and G. K. Douce, Coordinators. 1999. Weevils and Borers. A County Agent's Guide to Insects Important to Agriculture in Georgia. Univ. of GA, Col. Ag. Env. Sci., Coop. Ext. Serv., Tifton, GA USA. Winter School Top Fifty Agricultural Insect Pests and Their Damage Sessions, Rock Eagle 4-H Ctr., Jan. 20, 1999.

Selected References and Suggested Readings