PLUM CURCULIO

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Title: PLUM CURCULIO
Description: LATIN NAME: Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) LIFE CYCLE: Overwinter as adults under debris (leaves, brush and wood piles, etc.) adjacent to orchards. They enter orchards around pink stage, following a warm rainy period, and remain active for 4-6 weeks, peaking at petal fall. Eggs are laid in the fruit where the larvae feed for 10-16 days. When mature they exit the fruit and burrow into the soil 3-7 cm to pupate. The new adults emerge after 5-7 weeks (July-August) and feed on maturing fruit until late September before leaving the orchard to seek overwintering sites. MONITORING: Adults are difficult to monitor due to poor response to visual or odour-baited traps. As blossoms appear examine host trees adjacent to and on outside rows of orchards for presence of adults, feeding punctures and crescent-shaped egg-laying scars. HOSTS: Apple, pear, stone fruits, quince, other wild (Saskatoon berry, chokecherry) and cultivated fruits. COMMENTS: Adult weevils are slow-moving and will drop readily and play dead when disturbed BODY LENGTH: Adult - 4-6 mm; Mature larva - 7-9 mm.