Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionMango pulp weevil (437)
Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionMango pulp weevil (437)
Summary
- Restricted. Asia, Oceania. In Papua New Guinea.
- Serious pest causing premature fruit drop, loss of market access or the need for expensive treatments. On mango, cultivated and wild. Larvae make fruit inedible.
- Eggs laid into fruit; larvae white, legless, with black heads, tunnel through the flesh leaving trails of frass, finally pupating inside a frass-filled chamber. Adults, 6-9 cm, hard, brownish with white patches, long snouts, remaining 30 days in the fruit before leaving. Note, similarity with mango seed weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae) (see Fact sheet no. 353) – need expert examination to separate species.
- Spread by walking and flight (strong flyer but does not go far). Spread long distances via international fruit trade, and planting material.
- Biosecurity: regulate mango imports using ‘area freedom’ as management strategy (see FAO International Standard).
- Natural enemies: Oecophylla weaver ants (see Fact Sheet no. 386).
- Cultural control: collect fallen fruit and bury deeply; harvest fruit just before ripe; bag fruits individually (use paper)when about 6 cm diameter.
- Chemical control: unlikely to be effective, but synthetic insecticides recommended in the Philippines. See recommendations for mango seed weevil.
Common Name
Mango pulp weevil. It is also known as the mango fruit weevil.
Scientific Name
Cryptorhynchus frigidus; previously, it was known as Sternochetus frigidus.
AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information from Mango pulp weevil. Business Queensland. Queensland Government. (https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/crop-growing/priority-pest-disease/mango-pulp-weevil); and CABI (2019) Cryptorhynchus frgidus (mango fruit weevil). Crop Protection Compendium. (https://www.cabi.org/cpc). Photo 1 Mango pulp weevil. Business Queensland, Queensland Government. Australia. Photos 2-4 Walker, K (2005) Mango Pulp Weevil (Sternochetus frigidus). PaDIL - https://www.padil.gov.au.
Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project HORT/2016/185: Responding to emerging pest and disease threats to horticulture in the Pacific islands, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific.
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