White and Black Beetles
Hi Bugfolks,
Awesome site! Thanks!
I’ve browsed your beetles, but didn’t see this one. They’re all over my yard, on cassia, grapefruit, pine, and worse yet my butterfly host plants! Are they just contributing to the swiss cheese look on the leaves, or are they going after my butterfly eggs or caterpillars like this wasp looking creature that I’ve seen killing the caterpillars? Both the beetle and the wasp are in Palm Beach and Broward counties in south east Florida. The beetles are about the size of a large pea (slightly stepped on – they’re longer than round) and hide under the leaf when I get near with a camera then drop off (hopefully to the ground and not my shoe… they make ya hop!) the leaf when I flip it over to get a picture (which is good when I go beetle removing in the evening with a ziplock and flashlight – just hold the bag under the leaf and tap… in they go). I’d love to know the proper name for them.
Thanks Very Much,
Stephanie Sanchez
Hi Stephanie,
Your wasp photo did not attach. The Beetles are some type of Weevil, the largest family of insects, Curculionidae. Here is Eric Eaton’s assessment: “Ok, the beetles are definitely weevils of some sort, and strictly vegetarian:-) I’d see if they aren’t among the “featured creatures” that the Florida Ag department (IFAS) has made web page fact sheets for. They certainly are distinctive. Eric ” We checked all the weevils on the site and couldn’t find a match.
Update: (12/02/2006)
Floridian weevils mating
Re: your photo of “Floridian Weevils Mating” 10/18/2005, I found this alert on the U FL website which looks like the same weevil to me:
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/weevil-pest-alert.html
There’s a native floridian version and a new invasive asian version, which looks more like these photos to me. We seem to have them too, though they haven’t yet been reported on the west coast of Florida, according to the article.
-Miriam Wallace
Sarasota, FL
Thanks Miriam,
You appear to be correct.