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Maize Weevil
Image by USDA-ARS-GMPRC Image Database - License: Public Domain. (view image details)
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Maize Weevil pupa
Image by USDA-ARS-GMPRC Image Database - License: Public Domain. (view image details)
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GREATER RICE WEEVIL FACTS |
Identification
The Greater Rice Weevil is a pest of stored product. They are small brown black weevils with a long slender snout and four reddish brown spots on the wing covers (two spots on each wing cover). The head and thorax are nearly as long as the wing covers. It is similar to the Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) but slightly larger with more clearly marked red-brown spots on the wing covers. The Greater Rice Weevil is a stronger flier than the Rice Weevil
Other Names
Maize Weevil
Size
length 3.5mm to 4mm long
Food
The Greater Rice Weevil is a serious pest of stored grain and seeds. They are a primary pest of grain as they can infest undamaged grain. They feed on grain, maize, rice, peas, cottonseed and other stored products. In America, they are a major pest of corn and known as Maize Weevils.
Breeding
The female weevil chews a hole in the grain and deposits a small oval white egg inside. The egg hatches into a white legless grub which feeds inside the grain. The larvae pupate inside the grain and emerge as adult beetles by biting a circular exit hole through the grain. A female can lay 300-400 eggs in her life time. Adults live for five to eight months.
Range
significant pest in warm climates around the world
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Coleoptera | | Family: | Curculionidae | | Genus: | Sitophilus | | Species: | zeamais | | Common Name: | Greater Rice Weevil |
Relatives in same Genus
Granary Weevil (S. granarius)
Rice Weevil (S. oryzae)
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