Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Order	Coleoptera
Suborder	Polyphaga
Infraorder	Cucujiformia
Superfamily	Curculionoidea
Family	Curculionidae
Subfamily	Molytinae
Tribe	Conotrachelini
Genus	Conotrachelus

Scientific Name

Conotrachelus aratus

Common Name

hickory shoot curculio

Description

Adults are small, dark gray to reddish brown beetles about 3/16 inch (5 mm) long, with slightly curved snouts approximately one-third their body length. Larvae are small (5 to 7 mm), legless, creamy-white grubs with brown heads. Larvae bore in the pith of new shoot growth on pecan and hickory.

Damage

Larvae tunnel in tender shoots and leaf stems, weakening the shoots and sometimes causing terminal breakage or die-back. If breakage or die-back is not evident, injury may be recognized as small, sunken, brackish, triangular spots where eggs were laid in new shoots, or as irregular holes in the shoots following larval emergence. Heavy infestations (50% or more of terminals) may occur. Infestations are frequently heaviest in young trees and other trees not under a good spray program in late summer and early fall the previous year.

Seasonal History

Adults overwinter in ground trash or debris in and around pecan orchards. Adults normally emerge from overwintering during March and April, mate, and oviposit in tender new growth. Oviposition may occur in Georgia into June. Larvae hatch and tunnel in shoots and leaf stems for 2 to 4 weeks. Fully-grown grubs exit the shoots through irregular, round holes, drop to the ground and pupate in the soil. Typically, adults emerge from the soil in August and September, although there may be some adult emergence throughout the summer. These adults are thought to overwinter. There is normally only one generation per year.

When to Control

Orchards with a history of hickory shoot curculio infestation should be treated in early spring when unfolding buds have 1/4 to 1 inch of new growth (budbreak spray). Infested orchards should receive regular sprays through the summer, especially in August and September, to reduce adult population.

Originally compiled from

Hickory Shoot Curculio