Black vine weevils are common pests in gardens and greenhouses and are responsible for damaging plants, particularly busy lizzies, primroses, strawberries, cyclamen, polyanthus, camellias, azaleas, begonias and fuchsias.
One female weevil can lay 500 to 1200 eggs with these laid between July and October. The eggs hatch out in 8 to 20 days and feed on the plant roots through the autumn and winter. The adult weevil is half an inch long, greyish - black with faint orange spots on its back. The eggs are so small that they are impossible to see, but the larvae are just like brown-headed white maggots curled c-shape between a quarter and half an inch long.
There are a number of ways of tackling the problem of black vine weevil. These include attracting insect eating birds such as robins to your garden and regularly hoeing to expose grubs. Pots can be protected by the use of barrier glues around the rim, which vine weevils will not cross. Soil can be treated with suitable insecticides, applied either as dust or in solution by drenching the soil. These would be available from local garden centres. Plants, which are wilting, should have their compost or soil carefully removed from the roots to seek out larvae. Also decoy pot plants of busy lizzies, primroses, strawberries or cyclamen can be placed among other plants to attract the vine weevil. Adult weevils can then be removed and destroyed in October.
For information about the Council's services and contact details, please see'A Guide to Pest Control Services'.