Pest Profile

Sunflower headclipping weevil
Haplorhynchites aeneus
  • Sunflower headclipping weevil
  • Sunflower headclipping weevil
  • Sunflower headclipping weevil damage
  • Sunflower headclipping weevil damage

Pest Description

This is a black weevil about 1.0 cm (1/3 inches) long with a long, curved snout and relatively soft wing covers. Diagnosis is most easly made by the distinctive form of the plant damage. Adults girdle flower peduncles and leaf petioles leaving partially severed flowers or leaves hanging on the plant. When severed flower heads are opened, they often reveal mating aggregations of adult weevils covered in pollen. 

Source of information

https://entomology.k-state.edu/extension/insect-information/crop-pests/sunflowers/sunflower-headclipping-weevil.html

Pest photo source

J.P. Michaud, Wendy Johnson, KSU Entomology