Mango seed weevil

Sternochetus mangiferae

Adult weevils are dark brown to black with grey markings and are 6-9 mm long. They possess typical weevil features and a tough exoskeleton. Weevils spend the winter living under loose bark around the base of mango trees or in the forks of branches. They may also live in leaf litter around the tree and approximately 25% of the adults over-winter in the seed. Adult weevils can live for two years, so even with a crop failure in one season some weevils can survive into the following year.
During flowering the adult weevils leave their sheltered areas under loose tree bark and litter under the trees and move into the outer canopy of the tree to feed on new growth and to mate prior to egg-laying.

Damage: The mango seed weevil is considered a minor pest as it causes no significant economic damage to fruit. The minute egg-laying scars are barely discernable at harvest and the weevil is present only within the seed. The fine tunnel in the flesh the young larva causes as it burrows towards the seed heals, leaving no sign of its earlier presence in the flesh. However there are quarantine restrictions on the movement of mango fruit infested with seed weevil into a number of markets.

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