Gold-dust Weevil Mating Season

Hypomeces pulviger (Herbst, 1795), commonly known as the gold-dust weevil, is a species of beetle belonging to the family Curculionidae. The weevil is categorized as a pest of weeds and nursery trees. Gold-dust weevils are commonly found in our area, mainly in gardens filled with shrubs.

A few days ago, I observed two weevils mating. The mating season occurs almost anytime. They copulate on the leaves or the weed stems they damage.

The male here has green and golden yellow scales, while the female has pale black scales—it seems that the frequency of mating causes the golden yellow dust on the female to fade from what it should be.

The mating process reaches its climax, and the female leaves the male weevil alone. The next business is to go back to damaging the fresh weed leaves.