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Sweetpotato weevil (029) Print Fact Sheet

Common Name

Sweetpotato weevil

Scientific Name

Cylas formicarius

Distribution

Worldwide. It is recorded from American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna.

Hosts

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), and many types of morning glory.

Symptoms & Life Cycle

Damage is done by the adult beetles and grubs or larvae. The adults feed on the buds, leaves, vines and storage roots. However, grubs cause most damage by tunnelling through the stems (Photos 1-3) and storage roots (Photo 4). In the storage roots, tunnelling produces chemicals called terpenes, which give the flesh an unpleasant taste.

Female beetles lay eggs singly in the base of the vines, or crawl through cracks in the soil to lay eggs in the storage roots. The eggs are white, oval, and about 0.5 mm long. They are sealed in with a protective grey faecal plug. Several hundred eggs are laid over a lifespan of about 4 months.

The grubs are legless, white, with a brown head and reddish-brown gut. At maturity, the grubs are up to 8 mm long; they then pupate. Pupae are creamy white, up to 6 mm long. This stage lasts about a week. After coming out of the pupa, the adult beetle stays in the tunnel for about a day before cutting through to the outside.

Adult weevils are small and ant-like (Photos 4&5). They are 5-7 mm long, with a smooth and slender body and snout. Their head and rear are metallic blue or black, and their middle, legs and antennae are red. The full lifecycle takes just over a month. The adult weevils feed on the leaves, vines and storage roots, but do little damage. On the storage roots they make small shallow pits as they feed (Photo 7).

Impact

Sweetpotato weevil is considered to be the most serious pest of sweet potato, with reports of losses ranging from five to more than 80%. Losses increase the longer the crop remains in the ground unharvested. The impact on yield depends to a great extent on the soil and weather. Light sandy soils and low rainfall increase the chances of heavy infestations. There is also evidence that red-fleshed low dry matter varieties are more susceptible to infestation.

Detection & Inspection

Look at the base of the plant for small holes and damage to the stem. Break the stem to see if there are tunnels, rots and larvae. Dig up a storage root and look for damage to the skin, and feeding tunnels of the larvae inside. Adult beetles are most active at night, but can sometimes be seen on plants during the day. A pheromone is available which attracts male weevils (Photo 8). It is useful for estimating the relative number of weevils in any location.

Management

QUARANTINE
The unrestricted movement of plant propagating material (cuttings, shoots and storage roots) has the potential of further spreading the weevil, and should be done with caution. The FAO/IBPGR Technical Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Sweet Potato Germplasm (http://www.bioversityinternational.org/e-library/publications/detail/sweet-potato/) should be followed.

NATURAL ENEMIES
Predatory ants, beetles, spiders and earwigs attack adult weevils. Tiny wasps attack them too. They also become infected by Beauveria, a fungus. Bacteria and nematodes kill the grubs. However, none of these organisms appear to make significant reductions in the weevil populations.

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
The fungus, Beauveria bassiana, is produced in large quantities and used intensively for the control of sweet potato weevil in Cuba. Sprays of the fungus have largely replaced the use of chemical insecticides. Also in Cuba, predatory ants (Pheidole megacephala, the big-headed ant) have been used effectively to control weevils. Research on both these potential biological control organisms is being done in Papua New Guinea.

CULTURAL CONTROL

Before planting:

During growth:

After harvest:

CHEMICAL CONTROL
These recommendations are for commercial growers; those selling their produce in markets where signs of weevil damage would affect acceptability and price.


AUTHORS Helen Tsatsia & Grahame Jackson
Photos 1,4,5,6 & 8 Russell McCrystal, Bundaberg, Queensland.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat for the Pacific Community.



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