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Author Topic: Weevil  (Read 777 times)

Philippe

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Weevil
« on: May 28, 2013, 05:54:23 PM »
As we were making the beds clear of last winter old tree foliage those last days, we found a kind of weevil.



I have already seen such ones the years before, but generally it's a bit later in the season and I see them accidentely, by working in the beds.
The rhododendron caucasicum has the leaves borders round eaten, but it's been already some years now, and it's the only plant in the garden on which I ever noticed such damages, other rhodo don't show the least sign of attack.
Only once in the last 10 years I lost a single primula from confirmed weevil larvas. That was already 4 years ago now.

Now to the most curious: just today in 2 a hours search I found perhaps 25/30 of these adult weevils in the dry leaves, restricted only in parts of some beds. None of them under the rhododendron caucasicum, surprisingly, none of them near the Primula plantations, but, for example, many in a Potentilla crantzii, and some other here and there, simply under the dry leaves layer.

Now I don't know if I really didn't pay attention to it the previous years, but I really have never seen so many adult insects at once, never ever.
I mean the population cannot explode from one year to the nextso suddenly? I should already have noticed far more larva damages on many plants last year for example!
Where do they come from, and what do they eat?

It doesn't seem to be the Otiorhynchus sulcatus, as these weevils here are very shiny, if this is ever a criteria.

This may perhaps be a kind of local weevil which was always here, but only with fluctuating population, and feeding more on local plants? I have not the least idea.
Has anyone ever heard of garden friendly weevils?
NE-France,Haut-Chitelet alpine garden,1200 m.asl
Rather cool/wet summer,reliable 4/5 months winter snow cover
Annual precip:200/250cm,3.5°C mean annual temp.

 


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