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How to Manage Pests

Pests in Gardens and Landscapes

Pine needle weevils—Scythropus spp.
Pine weevils—Pissodes spp.

Pine needle weevil adults are 0.25 inch long, brownish snout beetles. Adult pine weevils are black to brown, rough-surfaced snout beetles with lighter blotches on their backs.

Damage

Pine needle weevils chew needles, notching them along the length. Larvae feed on roots. Needles turn brown in late winter or spring. Pine weevils distort and chew terminals, killing them. Foliage may become bushy. Grublike larvae mine shoots. Larvae of some species, such as the Monterey pine weevil, feed on roots and the trunk near the soil; this feeding can cause unsightly cankers on bark.

Solutions

Damage caused by pine needle weevils appears not to harm trees. Damaged needles soon drop. No control is known. Tolerate or prune out damage caused by pine weevils. On high aesthetic value (nursery) trees, a foliar insecticide spray in the spring may be applied when adults feed and lay eggs.

White pine weevils adult
White pine weevil adult, pupa, and larva (Packard, 1876)

 

Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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