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Obscure Root Weevil
Obscure root weevil, Sciopithes obscurus Horn,
most commonly found in landscapes, is becoming a more prominent weevil
in nursery production in some sites in the Pacific Northwest. The behavior
of this weevil tends to vary from other root weevils such as black vine
root weevil. The adult sometimes remains in the foliage rather than climbing
down the plant trunk to hide during the day. This weevil lays its eggs
inside a folded edge of the leaf. Females can lay eight eggs/day, roughly
equivalent to a black vine weevil, and the average cumulative production
was just under 100 eggs/weevil in a lab study conducted by Tanigoshi et
al. in 1999.
A wonderful resource to identify many common root weevils
is available online at WSU's website and called Western
Washington Field Guide to Common Small Fruit Root Weevils.
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