Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Rhynchophorus cruentatus - Palmetto Weevil

Rhynchophorus cruentatas - Rhynchophorus cruentatus Large Weevil - Rhynchophorus cruentatus Cocklebur Weevil??? - Rhynchophorus cruentatus id please - Rhynchophorus cruentatus Palmetto Weevil - Rhynchophorus cruentatus Florida beetle - Rhynchophorus cruentatus long nose beetle - Rhynchophorus cruentatus Palmetto Weevil - Rhynchophorus cruentatus - male
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
Genus Rhynchophorus
Species cruentatus (Palmetto Weevil)
Other Common Names
Giant Palm Weevil
Explanation of Names
Rhynchophorus cruentatus (Fabricius 1775)
cruentatus 'blood-stained'
Size
19-31 mm, our largest weevil(1)
Identification
from all-black to nearly all-red with a variable black pattern(1)(2)

The rostrum of males is covered with tiny bumps, in females it is smooth and shiny
Range
coastal se. US (LA-s.FL-NC, also: Hou & RGV) / Mex. - Map (1)(3)
Season
Adults found throughout the year in FL but usually more noticeable in the late spring and early summer(4)(2)
Food
Hosts include many palms (Arecaceae), but larvae are esp. destructive to cabbage palm: they tunnel the trunk, may kill the growing point, and cause the top of the palm to fall off(4)(2)
Life Cycle
Multiple generations can occur; life cycle takes ~3 months under optimal conditions (2).
Eggs are laid in the bases of leaves or in wounds in a dying host palm and hatch in ~3 days. Larvae have tend to feed primarily on the soft tissue surrounding the apical meristem. Mature grubs migrate to the periphery of the stem or petioles, build a cocoon from palm fibers and pupate. The adult emerges in a few weeks and may immediately break free of the cocoon or spend several days within the cocoon. The entire life cycle (egg to adult) takes ~84 days. Adults may live for several weeks (up to 26 weeks in captivity)(4)
Internet References
Featured Creatures - Weissling & Giblin-Davis 2015, Univ. of Florida(4)