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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Curculionoidea » Snout and Bark Beetles (Curculionidae) » Dryophthorinae » Rhynchophorini » Sphenophorina » Scyphophorus » Agave Weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus)

Species Scyphophorus acupunctatus - Agave Weevil

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal - Scyphophorus acupunctatus

Scyophophorus acupunctatus? - Scyphophorus acupunctatus

agave weevil - Scyphophorus acupunctatus

Sisal Weevil - Scyphophorus acupunctatus - Scyphophorus acupunctatus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Curculionoidea

Family Curculionidae (Snout and Bark Beetles)

Subfamily Dryophthorinae

Tribe Rhynchophorini

Subtribe Sphenophorina

Genus Scyphophorus

Species acupunctatus (Agave Weevil)

Other Common Names

Sisal Weevil(1), Sisal Borer; Picudo del Agave, Botija, Chatita (Spanish)

Explanation of Names

Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhaal 1838

acupunctatus = 'pin-pricked' (refers to the pronotal punctation)

Sisal (Agave sisalana), is a flowering plant native to southern Mexico, probably described from Sisal, Yucatán.

Size

8-19 mm

Identification

see (2)

Range

sw US (CA to WY-NE-TX) & FL to n. S. America; W. Indies - Map (3)(4); originated in the New World, spread globally to many arid and tropical regions wherever Agave spp. have been introduced(2)

Food

larvae mine roots and stems of Agave and Furcraea; also recorded on Yucca, and even on Manfreda(2)(Woodruff & Pierce 1973)

Life Cycle

in Kenya, takes 50-90 days(2)

Remarks

important pest of cultivated agaves

one of several species put into "tequila" (actually mezcal) bottles [intact larva shows high alcohol content of the liquid]

larvae are eaten in parts of Mexico

Print References

CDA (1959) A native weevil Scyphophorus acupunctatus, found on a new host, Dracaena draco, the dragon tree. Bull. Calif. Dept. Agric. 48: 226.

Ramos-Elorduy J. (2006) Threatened edible insects in Hidalgo, Mexico and some measures to preserve them. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed. 2: 51 (Full text)

Waring GL, Smith RL (1986) Natural history and ecology of Scyphophorus acupunctatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its associated microbes in cultivated and native agaves. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 79: 334-340. (Abstract)

Woodruff RE, Pierce WH (1973) Scyphophorus acupunctatus, a weevil pest of Yucca and Agave in Florida (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Fla. Dept. Agric. and Consumer Services Entomology Circular 135: 1-2.

Internet References

Fact sheet(2)

Works Cited

1.	iNaturalist

2.	Invasive Species Compendium (ISC)

3.	Review of Scyphophorus (Curculionidae: Rhynchophorinae) Vaurie P. 1971. Col. Bull. 25: 1-8.

4.	A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida. Peck & Thomas. 1998. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 180 pp.

Contributed by Boris Büche on 19 June, 2008 - 11:20am
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 28 April, 2022 - 2:16pm

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