Southern cowpea weevil
Scientific name
Callosobruchus chinensis (L.)
Classification
Primary pest; Grain feeder
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
Acronym: CCH
Description
- Adults are small (3 to 4 mm long), globular body with long legs and long antennae.
- Elytra are patterned and the last abdominal terga is exposed.
- Larvae are white and grub-like with reduced legs.
Images
Similar species
- Bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus)
- Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum)
- Other species of Callosobruchus.
Commodities affected
- Chickpeas, lentils, garden peas, mung beans
Signs of infestation
- Emergence holes from seed are obvious and characteristic.
Damage
- Damage is distinctive. When adults emerge from a seed, they leave a neat circular exit hole.
- Heavy infestation can cause commodity to heat, resulting in a loss of quality and mould growth.
How to control
Geographic range
- Is abundant in the tropics
- Has been recorded from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario in Canada
Where found
- Is occasionally found in beans imported to Canada
- Is a pest of stored beans, peas and wild legumes
- Attacks field beans and peas in the field
- Can be a storage pest in granaries where it will breed continuously on dried pulses
- Requires high temperature and moderate relative humidity to reproduce well, so does not do well in Canada
Life history
- Adults are very active and will run and fly readily.
- Females lay eggs by attaching to the outside of the seedcoat.
- Larvae feed and develop within the seed.
- Prior to pupation, the larvae chews an exit hole for the adult to emerge from.
Video
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