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LinkedInAvocado Seed Weevil
There have been recent reports of a beetle infesting downed avocado fruit in Ventura County. This scolytid weevil was first reported in San Diego in 2010. Gary Bender found it in a high density planting where fruit was lying on the ground.
The reports in Ventura have been of fruit that has found on the ground. It's a “B” rated pest that previously had only been reported from the Andes through Central America and Mexico into North Carolina. The main threat is to stored corn. The weevil is about the size of a sand grain. The photo below is by Alana King.
The beetle burrows into the fruit where the larvae tunnel the flesh.
Image - Aimee Smith
Image: Alana King
The avocado reports here have involved some superficial tunneling into the fruit flesh, although its various names include seed weevil. This is not the seed weevils Helipus or Conotrachelus which cause so much damage in Mexico
This insect probably is not a major threat to avocado, but just demonstrates again how easily pest infestations occur.
