- 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 (see Fact Sheet no. 353).
Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition
Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides
Mango pulp weevil (437)
Mango pulp weevil. It is also known as the mango fruit weevil.
Sternochetus gravis; previously, it was known as Sternochetus frigidus, Cryptorhynchus frigidus.
AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information from Mango pulp weevil (2019) Business Queensland. Queensland Government. (https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/crop-growing/priority-pest-disease/mango-pulp-weevil); and from CABI (2019) Cryptorhynchus frigidus (mango fruit weevil). Crop Protection Compendium. (https://www.cabi.org/cpc/datasheet/16432). Photo 1 Mango pulp weevil. Business Queensland, Queensland Government. Australia. Photos 2-4 Walker, K (2005) Mango Pulp Weevil (Sternochetus frigidus): PaDIL - (http://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.