General Information

COMMON NAMES: Rice Weevil; German Reiskäfer GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: RANGE circumtropical COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group; Land, in stored foods SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; in stored grains KEY FEATURES: Small dark brown insect to 4mmTL (incl. Snout); adult flies and has round thoracic pits. LARVAE short; very humped with flat ventral side, living inside grains and cereals. SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Granary Weevil (Sitophilus granarius). Sitophilus zeamais, separated by experts under 40x by comparison, typically has slightly wider and more distinct wing-cover ridges (vs. narrow and less distinct).

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Sitophilus oryzae (L.)
SYNONYMS: Curculio oryza [O]; Calandra oryzae

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Coleoptera; CURCULIONIDAE

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: in stored grains. Comments: Larvae in tunnels in grains, especially wheat and rice, also most cereals..

IDENTIFICATION: Weevil with long snout, 4mmTL (incl. Snout). Uniformly brown to dark-brown. Winged. Thorax pits round. Wing-cover has pit-grooves ans narrow ridges. LARVAE cream, short, very humped dorsally, ventrally flat without any legs. Adults live about 8 months, development from egg to adult takes 1-5 months, depending upon temperature.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen, ?1937, in BPBM, ID Al Samuelson, 2003 as Sitophilus oryzae; specimens, in pasta CITC, 7/2002, Maja Poeschko; specimen+photo, pasta, 3/2002, G.McC. ID as Sitophilus granarius, photo re-ID Maja Poeschko as Sitophilus oryzae - 4 pale spots definitive.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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