Controlling vine weevils

Steve and Val Bradley explain how to tackle one of the most destructive garden pests

- Steve and Val Bradley

THE most common species of vine weevil in the UK is the black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) and it is possibly the most damaging pest of all to many ornamental and some fruit-bearing plants, particularly strawberries.

Feeding habits

All the adults are female and they feed on the leaves of plants, leaving semi-circular notches along the leaf margins before laying eggs in small clusters on, or in, the soil or compost at the base of the plant they have been feeding on. The eggs develop into root-eating larvae (creamywhite grubs with a black or brown head) before becoming a pupa and then emerging as the familiar black adult.

This pest can attack plants both outdoors and indoors, with cyclamen being a particular favourite and begonias a close second. Outdoors, both heuchera and sedum are easy prey, but vine weevils are capable of feeding on a wide range of plants and causing serious damage.

Symptoms