Sri Lanka Weevil Damage in Home Landscapes

What is eating those leaves? It’s the Sri Lanka weevil! Dr. Doug Caldwell, Ph.D, UF⎮IFAS Extension Collier County Entomologist (Dr. Dougbug) explains “WHAT TO DO” about this grey and black leaf-chewing beetle that attacks more than 70 different ornamental and fruit producing plants, including favorites such as citrus, lychee, cocoplum, and hibiscus. Responding to the many inquiries about this pest at the UF⎮IFAS Extension Master Gardener Collier County plant clinics in the Naples, Florida area, Dr. Dougbug explains how homeowners can manage the Sri Lanka weevil using a balanced Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. The Sri Lanka weevil, with its unwieldy Latin name, Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus, arrived in 2001. Populations seem to have gotten lighter, perhaps due to beneficial predators or disease, or because heavy rains have drowned the eggs, larvae or pupae, which dwell in the soil.