Description

• Adult fuller's rose weevils are wingless, grey-brown, and about 8 mm long.
• Mature larvae are legless, yellow and about 6 mm long.
• Females produce eggs glued together in yellowish, papery masses of about 20-30 without mating.
• Eggs are laid under fruit calyces, in bark crevices, or in microsprinklers under the tree.

• After hatching, the larvae drop to into soil and feed on citrus roots.
• Adults then emerge from the soil mostly between February and May. They climb trees via trunks, weeds and low-hanging foliage.
• The adults chew leaf margins, leaving a serrated edge.
• Foliage near the trunk or touching the ground is most likely to be damaged.
• There are 1-2 generations per year.
• Adults can be found all year, but peak levels are from February to May.

Damage

• The presence of eggs under the calyx may cause a problem in some export markets.
• Fuller's rose weevil is a quarantine pest in South Korea. Orchards exporting to South Korea must have low levels of this pest and acceptable management practices in place.
• Fuller's rose weevil attacks all citrus varieties.

Monitoring

• Fortnightly monitoring is necessary from early August to late October, and again from February to late June.
• Trees selected for monitoring must be randomly scattered throughout the block.
• Examine low-hanging fruits near the trunk, looking for egg masses under the calyx.

• Examine low-hanging foliage for signs of feeding damage.
• The abundance of adult weevils can be monitored by beating tree limbs.

Natural enemies

• Wasp Fidiobia citri
• Assassin bug
• Praying mantises
• Parasitic nematodes (such as Heterorhabditis sp.)

Control measures

• Control of Fuller's rose weevil is required especially for exporting crops.
• Appropriate actions include pruning the skirts of trees at the end of each season, controlling weeds, and applying sticky bands around the tree trunk.