Black Vine Weevil Larvae Crawling Deep Underground
Black vine weevil larvae overwinter in the soil. In the spring, the flightless adults emerge and feed at night on the outer edges of leaves, causing the leaves to have a notched margin. They mate and lay as many as 500 eggs in the soil near the base of host plants. The larvae hatch in a week or two and feed on plant roots until cold temperatures drive them further underground. The larval stage is quite destructive, especially to landscape plants such as rhododendron and azalea. Female black vine weevils have the ability to reproduce parthenogenetically. Fertilization of eggs is required to produce males, but no males have been observed in North America. (photo: adult black vine weevil on Jack-in-the-Pulpit fruit)
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