Pecan Growers Must Look Out for Weevil

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Pecan growers need to be on the lookout for a nasty pest that could significantly impact yields. New Mexico State University's Anna María Pérez-Wright reports.

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This winter, New Mexican pecan growers should keep a sharp eye out for signs of a devastating bug known as the pecan weevil. Entomologist Carol Sutherland with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service says harvest time brings all the nuts into one place at one time for cleaning, sorting and marketing, making it easier to check for the pecan weevil.

"This is the worst pest of pecan nuts in the world, really. It not only takes the nuts off, it contaminates the nuts."

Pecan weevils were first discovered in New Mexico in the late 1960s and were quickly eradicated. But after 30 years, the pecan weevil resurfaced when workers at an Otero County cleaning plant noticed nuts with round holes about the size of a B-B pellet -- the pecan weevil's emergence holes. Sutherland says although it's easier to find during harvest, most of the pest's life is spent underground.

"Way under ground, maybe as deep as a couple of feet down in the orchard soil. And that's where it spends the bulk of its life cycle. This is a critter with very unusual habits."

Sutherland says everyone from homeowners with a backyard tree to processors can help stop the weevil from spreading. If you find either small round holes or grubs in pecans, take the nuts to your county Extension office or to the N-M-S-U Extension plant sciences department in Las Cruces for confirmation. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.