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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Curculionoidea » Snout and Bark Beetles (Curculionidae) » Gonipterinae » Oxyops » Melaleuca Leaf Weevil (Oxyops vitiosa)

Species Oxyops vitiosa - Melaleuca Leaf Weevil

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

Oxyops vitiosa (Pascoe) - Oxyops vitiosa

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 Gonipterinae

Genus Oxyops

Species vitiosa (Melaleuca Leaf Weevil)

Explanation of Names

Oxyops vitiosa (Pascoe)

Size

Adult 6-9 mm (1).Larva can reach 14 mm.

Range

native to Australia, introduced to the US (FL 1997)(1)

Habitat

in FL established in dry or seasonally wet habitats but failed to establish in fully aquatic habitats due to a lack of suitable pupation sites(1)

Food

Host: broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia)(1). It also feeds on other members of the Myrtaceae family, including native ones, but doesn't seem to cause serious damage.

Life Cycle

see(1)

Female lays about 470 eggs in her lifetime. Larval development takes about 28 days. Drop to the ground to pupate. Total time from egg to adult about 48 days.

Remarks

introduced to control its host, Melaleuca quinquenervia, an invasive weedy tree from Australia(1)

Print References

Balciunas, J.K., D.W. Burrows, and M.F. Purcell. 1994. Field and laboratory host ranges of the Australian weevil, Oxyops vitiosa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) a potential biological control agent for the paperbark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia. Biol. Control. 4: 351-360.

Center, T.D. et al. 2000. Field colonization of the melaleuca snout beetle (Oxyops vitiosa) in south Florida. Biological Control 19: 112-123.

Purcell, M.F. and J.K. Balciunas. 1994. Life-history and distribution of the Australian weevil Oxyops vitiosa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a potential biological control agent for Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 87: 867-873.

Internet References

Cornell U.

U. Florida

Wikipedia

Works Cited

1.	Insects and other arthropods that feed on aquatic and wetland plants Center T.D., Dray F.A., Jubinsky G.P., Grodowitz M.J. 2002. USDA ARS, Technical Bulletin 1870. 200 pp.

Contributed by v belov on 19 April, 2011 - 6:38pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn
Last updated 20 January, 2017 - 7:49am

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