Bug FAQBlack Vine Weevil
Otiorhynchus sulcatus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Curculionidae
Also called: Vine Weevil
Source: Wikipedia
Adult black vine weevils are matte black, wing-covered and cannot fly. The larvae are creamy-white, legless grubs up to 1 cm long with a tan-brown head. They live underground, eat plant roots and leaf margins, and are a common garden pest.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are matte black with fused wing covers and cannot fly.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Grubs grow to about 1 cm, are creamy white, slightly curved, legless, with a tan-brown head.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Place sticky barriers on trunks to catch adults returning to the soil each day. Apply parasitic nematodes such as Steinernema kraussei or Heterorhabditis bacteriophora to control larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are a pest of many garden plants.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
At night they chew the outer edges of leaves, leaving notched margins. They also feed on plant roots and cambium underground.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females reproduce without males; no males have been observed.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to Europe but now common in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 44 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, California.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in North America; introduced in Canada; introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What can I use to control the larvae in the soil?
Parasitic nematodes like Steinernema kraussei or Heterorhabditis bacteriophora can be applied to the soil to kill the grubs.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Curculionidae)
Green Immigrant Leaf WeevilPolydrusus formosusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Nettle weevilPhyllobius pomaceusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Asian Oak WeevilCyrtepistomus castaneusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Strawberry Root WeevilOtiorhynchus ovatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Leaf WeevilPhyllobius pyriDamages trees, gardens or crops
Large Pine WeevilHylobius abietisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_weevil
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.