Common NameAlfalfa Curculio
SeasonalityPeak periods of activity occur between April and June (Campbell et al. 1989).
IdentificationBody length varies from 2.9 to 4.0 mm, excluding head. Integument is generally black with an occasional reddish tinge; tarsi, tibia, femora, and antennae are reddish. The rostrum surface is flat but may be weakly covex on the upper two thirds. The lower third of the rostrum may be weakly concave and the medial carnia is absent. Eyes are strongly covex and protuberant. The length of the pronotum equals the width. The pronotum is widest at the middle, the sides are weakly arcuate and the anterior constriction line is weakly evident. The pronotal surface is covered with deep and close punctures that possess forward pointing, slightly erect scales, giving the surface a shiny appearance. The prosternal groove is approximately equidistant from the fore-coxae and the anterior of the prosternum. Elytral sides are subparallel on the basal half, and the remainder is broadly rounded. Strial punctures are small, weakly impressed and each possesses a small recumbent seta. The vestiture is variable, but generally consists of dense, small, recumbent interstrial scales, that are white or brown. Females are similar to males, but the elytra are more inflated, lateral margins of elytra are more arcuate, the body is larger, and females have a more diffuse colour pattern. Adults are most easily recognized by: a) strongly convex eyes; b) narrow pronotum; c) small body size compared to other Sitona species; and d) median row of narrow and erect scales, coloured white in each elytral interstriae. (Adapted from Bright 1994, Bright and Bouchard 2008)