|
Species Diaprepes abbreviatus - Diaprepes Root Weevil
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Curculionoidea (Snout and Bark Beetles)
Family Curculionidae (Snout and Bark Beetles)
Subfamily Entiminae (Broad-nosed Weevils)
Tribe Eustylini
Genus Diaprepes
Species abbreviatus (Diaprepes Root Weevil)
Other Common Names Citrus [Root] Weevil, Sugarcane Rootstalk Borer Weevil, Apopka Weevil, Sugarcane Root Weevil, West Indian Sugar Cane Rootstalk Borer
Explanation of Names Diaprepes abbreviatus (Linnaeus 1758)
Identification color highly variable (from gray to yellow to orange to black)
Range Native to the Caribbean, adventive and established in so. US: so. & central FL (1964), so. TX (Cameron & Hidalgo Cos 2000, Corpus Christi 2005, Houston 2009; map), so. CA (2005), LA (2008); further north in greenhouses
Food highly polyphagous; larvae feed on roots, adults on foliage of citrus trees (esp. oranges in TX) and almost 300 other plant species (1)
Remarks Major pest of citrus crops: larvae often girdle the taproot, which may kill the plant and provide an avenue for Phythophora infections. A single larva can kill young hosts while several larvae can cause serious decline of older, established hosts.
Pest of sugarcane in the Caribbean (2); earliest record in our area: FL 1964 (1)
Print References French J.V., Skaria M. (2000) Citrus root weevil identified. Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center Newsletter 18(6).
Grafton-Cardwell E.E., Godfrey K.E., Peña J.E., McCoy C.W., Luck R.F. (2004) Diaprepes root weevil. ANR Publication 8131, 8 pp. ( Full text)
Woodruff R.E. (1985) Citrus weevils in Florida and the West Indies: preliminary report on systematics, biology, and distribution (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Fla. Entomol. 68(3): 370-379. Full text
Internet References
Species page (Quinn 2009)
Works Cited 2. | Insects and mites new to Florida sugarcane Hall D.G., Konstantinov A.S., Hodges G.S., Sosa O., Welbourn C., Westcott R.L. 2005. J. Amer. Soc. Sugar Cane Technologists 25: 143-156. | |
|
|
|
|