Fuller’s rose weevil

Pantomorus cervinus

Fuller’s Rose Weevil (FRW) is a foliage feeding insect that has the potential to be a threat to young, recently grafted, heavily pruned on top worked avocado trees that have little foliage.

Eggs

• Yellowish.
• Cylindrical.
• 1mm long.
• Laid in a mass of 20-30mm.
• Covered with a white sticky material.
• Laid in cracks and crevice’s of bark and around the base of the tree.

Adult

• Brown to ash-grey.
• 8mm in length.
• Characteristic long ‘snout’.
• Hard body.
• Distinguishing short, oblique, white line halfway along the body on each side.

Fruit and leaves

• Chewed leaf margins.
• Characteristic tell-tale ragged, notched or serrated appearance.
• Damage is mostly seen on lower branches or on foliage that is in contact with the ground.
• Not associated with fruit.

Life cycle

• Small egg masses covered by a white spongy material are deposited within the crevices of bark and around the base of the tree.
• Hatched larvae drop to the ground and burrow into the soil.
• Larvae feed on plant roots for 8 months or more before pupating and emerging as adults.
• Adults will live for 3 – 6 months.
• FRW has an extended one year life cycle.

Where and when to monitor

• Difficult to monitor as it only appears at night on foliage, spending the day under the soil.
• Monitor for signs of significant and widespread tell-tale leaf damage.
• Tell-tale leaf damage is mostly seen on lower branches or on foliage that is in contact with the ground as adults cannot fly and must climb trunks and branches to reach leaves.
• FRW leaf damage which is ragged, notched or serrated in appearance, should not be confused with the “shot-hole” effect caused by Bronze beetle damage.
• FRW is active during December through to April.
• Can cause significant damage in a very short time – especially to new plantings of young trees.
• Adults can sometimes be found sheltering in the protective wind protection structures and associated cloth.

Implications

Fuller’s rose weevil is a quarantine pest therefore market access restrictions will apply if it is found on fruit in the packhouse.