The Vine Weevil is a pest of many
garden plants. All vine weevils are female and each can lay up
to 1,000 eggs during the summer. The larvae are stout, creamy
white, legless grubs with brown heads; their bodies are slightly
curved and up to 10mm long.
Vine
Weevil - Otiorhynchus sulcatus
They feed on the roots of many
plants and the tubers of plants such as cyclamen and begonia.
Plants growing in pots, window boxes or other containers are
particularly at risk and may be killed during autumn-spring.
The adult weevil is black with fused
wing covers, and is unable to fly. Adults feed at night on the
outer edges of leaves, causing the leaves to have a notched
margin.
Vine
Weevil - Larvae
Vine
Weevil - Adult
Vine
Weevil Damage
Grubs live below the soil surface,
and feed on the roots of plants, shrubs and trees.
The grubs will attack the roots of almost any young plant in a
container. They are especially fond of primulas and cyclamen.
Plants in soil are less at risk.
Know
your enemy.............
Ground
Beetle - Vine Weevil Confusion
Almost all
ground beetles adults are carnivorous and eat all sorts of
prey including slugs, snails, caterpillars, weevils, leaf
beetles and all sorts of other plant pests. They are
therefore very useful in gardens to keep down pest
numbers. Be careful not to destroy this friend of the
garden.
Love
Hate
Ground
Beetle
Vine Weevil
The
ground beetle is larger, flatter and does
not have a
pointed head.
The
vine weevil is slightly smaller, pointed
head,
rounder body with speckled markings.
Symptoms: Plants quickly turn
yellow and wilt. Unfortunately, at this stage it’s usually too
late to save them. For an advance warning that vine weevils are
about, look for notches bitten out of the sides of leaves by
adult beetles.
Prevention/Control: At
night-time, take a torch into the garden and sprinkle a thick
layer of grit around those plants at risk to deter egg-laying
adults, and any grubs or adults that you see. (You can see them
on the leaves with a torch!) To kill the grubs in containers,
use biological control or apply a pesticide that contains
Imidacloprid. (Cultural control; ensure you get rid of old
compost in pots and baskets).
Organic
Control
Natural Pest Control - Vine Weevil
Natural pest control products offer a safe and effective way of controlling pests for both edible and ornamental crops, without the use of toxic chemicals, making them ideal for the organic gardener. Treatments are suitable for use in both greenhouses and outdoors dependent on the pest and take the form of natural predators, parasites, bacteria or parasitic worms called nematodes, all of which occur naturally and are specific to the pests they are targeted against.
Full instructions supplied with each treatment.
Can be used on
edible plants.
Small pack treats 12 sq.
metres; Large pack treats 100 sq. metres.
Nematode Control
Nemasys
Vine Weevil Killer
Nemasys
Vine Weevil Killer effectively controls vine
weevils with no risks to children, pets and
wildlife. It controls vine weevil at the larvae
stage when they are living in the soil and are at
their most destructive.
Nemasys
contains millions of nematodes, the natural
enemies of vine weevil. Once applied by watering
can they actively seek out and kill vine weevil
larvae. Unlike other chemicals, this is effective
against all larval stages.
Chemical
Control
Chemical
control
Provado
Vine Weevil Killer 2
A
systemic insecticide that gives four months protection
against vine weevil attack and 6 weeks protection
against aphids and whitefly attack too. Use as a drench
in all pot grown plants indoors and out, killing grubs
in the soil on contact when you water it in. The
chemical is also taken up by the roots in to the plant
so killing any sap-sucking insect as soon as they attack
the plant.
Love
Hate
