Florida Citrus Weevils

A previous circular (Woodruff, 1962), now out-of-print, treated some of the weevils on Florida citrus. The introduction of the West Indian Diaprepes abbreviatus (Linnaeus) (Woodruff, 1964, 1968), nomenclatural changes,and the addition of another native species now bring the total to 6 species which are distinguished here. The coffee bean weevil, Araecerus fasciculatus (Degeer),although a citrus pest, is not a true weevil, has been previously treated (Woodruff, 1972), and therefore is not included here. The photographs and the key should permit easy recognition of the 6 species with the aid of a hand lens. Although many species of weevils may be found on citrus, only these 6 have been found consistently on citrus and are known to cause damage in Florida.

The short-nosed weevils have been placed in various taxonomic groups (Blatchley & Leng, Buchanan, Champion, Kissinger, Schwarz & Barber, van Emden, and Vaurie), but these are not yet satisfactory or natural.Even the placement to subfamilies or tribes appears to be arbitrary and requires exceptions for existing keys. The key provided here is artificial (not meant to show affinities). Space does not permit further discussion here, but future circulars will treat these individual species in greater details of biology, taxonomy, economic importance, and distribution.

Larvae of Diaprepes abbreviatus, Pantomorus cervinus (Boheman), Pachnaeus opalus (Olivier), and P. litus (Germar) were distinguished in a previous circular (Beavers and Woodruff, 1971). As far as known, the larvae of Artipus floridanus (Horn) and Tanymechus lacaena Herbst have not been described.