Black Vine Weevils in house

A couple of weeks ago I found a few of these in my livingroom and had them id'd by the natural history museum. I've since found about about 7 or 8 every day but only on carpets, curtains and window sill, never on plants, and usually at night or in morning. I've checked all my houseplants and can only see possible damage on 3 of them- a Mother in law's tongue, a spider plant and a ponytail palm - though in last case it could be some sort of mite. Having read about life cycle, i'm at a loss to understand where they are coming from, besides the limited leaf damage all my houseplants look healthy, the only 'death' i've had recently was of a prayer plant whose leaves had curled inwards which i'd attributed to another cause and certainly no sign of insects or grubs in the pot. I don't know where these weevils are during the day, if I knew i could probably use insecticide or physically destroy them. Obviously i'm worried they are laying eggs that could hatch as grubs eating roots of and killing my houseplants next year. has anyone any experience or suggestions as to what to do?

 

to GC @kuepper

I don't have any personal experience of this, but it's my understanding that now is the time of year they materialise from your indoor pots. I also think they are nocturnal, so to catch them, you would need to be on the look out after dark so you could remove them.

Other than checking the plants frequently (lift them out of the pots to look at the roots for any signs of grubs) I really am not sure what else would be the right thing to do.

Hopefully other members (with experience) will be along to offer their advice.

Keep looking for them!

 

The Mother in law's tongue seems to have been the source and I've disposed of it. I've not seen anything for 24 hrs now but i'm wondering whether I should just leave it at that or treat the remaining pots with Provado Vine Weevil killer in case eggs have been laid them.

 

Hi Kuepper,



Welcome to Gardeners Corner

You'll get to know my plant preference as you read through posts on GC, unfortunately for me I grow the Vine Weevils favourite meal, Fuchsias.
I've found the only way to control them is Provado . It is quite expensive to buy at around £8 a bottle, but once diluted it does the job brilliantly. You only need to water it into the pots twice a year, giving them a good soaking, once in the Spring and then again in the Autumn. This will kill off any beetles and their larvae. It is the larvae you really need to get rid of as these eat the roots overnight and can make a plant droop overnight, making it look like it needs watering. The beetles themselves just nibble the leaves, not really doing too much damage to the plant itself.