Name that bug

15 years ago

A large pot of H. papilio was attacked by a bug this summer. I treated it with pesticide, but apparently didn't get all the bugs. Does anyone know this bug?

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Comments (8)

elizabeth_jb
15 years ago
Ouch!

Could it be?

When I saw the pic of the bug, I immediately though 'weevil', did a google image search and found the link below.

Oh, NO! I can't imagine being attacked by those!

Bless you! Let us know what you find out about pesticides!

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaryllis Weevil
kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
15 years ago
Elizabeth - the side view looks like a match to me! EWWW! Excellent work Sherlock!
:-) Kristi
(who really wishes she had some cold medicine in the house!)
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jodik_gw
15 years ago
Egads! Those poor, poor Papilios! I've never seen damage like that before! I've also never encountered a weevil of any kind... are they more a southern bug?

I wouldn't know what to do to prevent that bug from doing harm... I'd say a powerful insecticide is in order.

Good luck with those, Pat... I hope you're able to save them and make them thrive again!
kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
15 years ago
Would a systemic work in this case?? Makes them unpalatable?
K
jodik_gw
15 years ago
Actually, I had thought that parts of the Hippeastrum were poisonous, and that most pests left them alone.

According to the information in the link provided by Elizabeth, this particular weevil is not widespread as yet, and occurs mainly in Florida. It appears to have hitched a ride with bulbs entering the country from South America.

I would think that whatever works to eliminate other types of weevils would work on this one. He sure is ugly!
chazparas
15 years ago
Pat,
Been thinking on this for 2 days now. All I can say is, ugh. Looks to be as bad as the damned bulb fly. Hope you are successful in eradicating it buddy.
Chaz
elizabeth_jb
15 years ago
Chaz,

I have never had problems with the bulb fly, and I have plenty of daffodils and paperwhites in the ground as well as some of my hippies.

This one that Pat has shown scares me, though! I bought a few potted Amaryllis at Lowes this morning. They were discounted for $2 and in bloom with multiple scapes and just buds, not opened yet. One, I got for my Mom.

You better believe that I examined each one very closely for any kind of insect damage. I do believe that this is where I got the Spanish Moth a couple of years ago, so I will be watching these closely.

The potted Amaryllis at Lowes usually come from Florida nurseries. I'm going to keep my eyes open for some of the suggested pesticides, just in case...

Horrors! I'm so sorry Pat! You seem to have had more than your share of pests!
houstonpat
Original Author
15 years ago
That looks like a good match Elizabeth. Fortunately it doesn't appear to have spread to any others in my collection. Lord knows how it hitched a ride in, as I collect lots of rare ferns that come through Florida. I'll report it occurance to the IBS, and the Houston Amaryllis Society. I tried to salvage a few of the bulbs, we'll see how that goes. I will be especially alert for any occurances come spring, and will be very aggressive with systemic if so. I will thoroughly saturate my trash bin hoping it is limited to only my house.