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Species Pachylobius picivorus

dark gray weevil - Pachylobius picivorus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Curculionoidea (Snout and Bark Beetles)

Family Curculionidae (Snout and Bark Beetles)

Subfamily Molytinae

Genus Pachylobius

Species picivorus (Pachylobius picivorus)

Other Common Names

Pitch-Eating Weevil

Explanation of Names

Author is Germar, 1824.

Size

8-11 mm (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 1990)

Identification

Description based on Florida Dept. Agriculture, 1990:

Similar to Hylobius pales. Adults are dark brown, with patches of short, flattened, white, yellowish or reddish-brown hairs on elytra.

Tibiae short and thick, with dilated outer apical angles (differentiates from Hylobius pales). See photos:

Range

Eastern North America: Labrador, Ontario, south to Florida, west to Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, (Alabama?, Texas?)

Habitat

pine forests

Season

year-round in South

Food

Adults feed on young pines, especially where disturbed by fire, logging, construction.

Life Cycle

Life cycle said to be similar between this and Hylobius pales. Larvae tunnel along the roots, feeding on phloem and xylem tissues. After five or six larval instars, pupation occurs in cells (chip cocoons; ca. 6 mm deep X 13 mm long) constructed in the outer wood surface (sapwood) or bark of roots (Florida Dept. Agriculture).

Remarks

Neartica lists Pachylobius picivorus as the only species in the genus.