Explanation of Names
Ochyromera ligustri Warner 1961
Range
se. US to NJ (TX-FL-NJ-OK) -
Map (2); native to SE Asia
(1)(3)Food
Asso. w/ adventive
Ligustrum spp. (Oleaceae)
In Japan, adults have been collected on Japanese privet (Ligustrum japonicum), wax-leaf ligustrum (Ligustrum lucidum), common privet (Ligustrum amurense), but larvae were found only in Japanese privet. (Kojima et al. 1998). In Florida, adults have been reared from Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) (Cuda et al. 2005).
Life Cycle
Females deposit their eggs in the seed or in the mature fleshy fruits. The young larvae feed inside the fruits during the fall and winter months. Full-grown larvae and pupae appear in late April and early May during the following year. Only one generation per year. (Cuda et al. 2005)
Remarks
earliest record in our area: NC 1959 (accidentally introduced with host plant). By 1982, it was still only reported from NC to FL
(4). By 2005, it reached c. TX.
(5)
occasionally comes to lights (BG data), but most of the 8 spmns in the UTIC were collected via Malaise trap.
(5)Print References
Cuda JP, Zeller MC. 1998. First record of
Ochyromera ligustri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Chinese privet in Florida. Florida Entomologist 81(4): 582-584. (
Link to full PDF)
Cuda JP, Zeller MC. 1999.
Ochyromera ligustri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), an immigrant natural enemy of Chinese privet
Ligustrum sinense Lour. (Oleaceae) in Florida, Pp. 357-362.
In: Jones DT, Gamble BW (eds.), Proceedings of the 1998 Joint Symposium of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant council and the Florida Native Plant Society, Palm Beach Gardens, 3-7 June 1998. (
Full PDF)
Cuda, J.P. and M.C. Zeller. 2000. Chinese privet,
Ligustrum sinense: Prospects for Classical Biological Control in the Southeastern United States. Wildland Weeds. pp. 17-19. (
Full PDF)
Kojima H, Morimoto K, Horikawa M. 1998. Two new species of the genus Ochyromera (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Japan. Esakia 38: 113-122.
Warner, R.E. 1961. The genus
Ochyromera new to the western hemisphere, with a new species and additions to the Junk-Schenkling Coleopterorum Catalogus (Curculionidae: Prionomerinae, Endaeini). Coleopterists' Bulletin 15(4): 121-124. (
JSTOR)
Wray DL. 1961. Biology and life history of the ligustrum weevil (Curculionidae). Coleopterists' Bulletin 15(4): 119-120.
