An Overview of the Pepper Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) as a Pest of Greenhouse Peppers

Abstract

The pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii Cano) is a destructive insect pest of field and greenhouse pepper crops across North America. Its management remains challenging with significant implications for pepper production, despite a documented presence in Central America, Mexico, the United States, and the Caribbean for approximately a century, and recently in Canada. Currently, the main tools and methods applied to manage pepper weevil populations in greenhouse peppers are the implementation of strict biosecurity protocols, diligent monitoring, physical and cultural management techniques, and chemical insecticides when necessary. However, these tools can be costly, labor-intensive, and insufficient, particularly when new outbreaks go undetected for prolonged periods. Additionally, the use of available insecticides is limited due to significant nontarget effects these have on biological control agents used to manage other important greenhouse pepper pests. Recently, research efforts have focused on developing better tools for pepper weevil management to mitigate a rising incidence of insecticide resistance and the spread of weevils into temperate regions, however, multiple constraints remain. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of the pepper weevil and identify information gaps, which future research should address to improve the targeted management of this pest in greenhouse pepper production systems.

Population Structure and Genetic Diversity of the Pepper Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Using the COI Barcoding Region

“…However, the lack of evidence for permanent insect establishment in Canada, the ongoing trade of pepper material, and the sporadic presence of the insect during peaks of pepper growing seasons suggests that it is more likely that repeated pepper weevil introductions are occurring over time. Pepper weevil presence is most likely to remain transient in Canada as it is annually confronted with the thermal barrier present at such a northerly latitude ( Fernández et al 2020 ). The Netherlands and Italy populations were only represented by two of the most common haplotypes, and these two introductions were not linked ( Van De Vossenberg et al 2019 ).…”

“…It is native to Mexico ( Cano y Alcacio 1894 , Van De Vossenberg et al 2019 ) but is naturalized in other parts of the world including the Caribbean ( Abreu and Cruz 1985 , Serra et al 2011 ) and the United States ( Walker 1904 , Campbell 1924 , Elmore et al 1934 , Fullaway and Krauss 1945 , Burke and Woodruff 1980 , Schultz and Kuhar 2008 , Ingerson-Mahar et al 2015 ). The pepper weevil was briefly present but later eradicated from western Canada ( Costello and Gillespie 1993 ), Italy ( Speranza et al 2014 ), and the Netherlands ( Van Der Gaag and Loomans 2013 ), and it is sporadically found during the growing season in field and greenhouse pepper crops in southern Ontario, Canada ( Fernández et al 2017 , 2020 ). The sporadic presence of the pepper weevil in new areas is largely explained by the extensive global trade of pepper fruit and seedlings.…”

Host utilization by the pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii): suitability, preference and offspring performance

“…One of the main challenges with managing pepper weevil populations stems from its ability to reproduce on a diversity of cultivated and wild Solanaceous species 14,15 . Originating in Mexico, 16,17 the pepper weevil is present in the United States 13,18–22 and regularly occurs in more northerly latitudes 23 including southern Ontario, Canada 24–26 . Weevil adults feed on the foliage of Solanaceous plants within the Datura , Physalis , Petunia , and Nicotiana genera, 15 and larval stages feed and develop within the reproductive structures of several species in the nightshade family 13–15,24,27–29 .…”

“…We also predicted that pepper weevil would choose to oviposit in pepper fruit characterized by low concentrations of capsaicin, regardless of whether plant types share a geographic origin with pepper weevil, as this biochemical may affect offspring survival. With the sporadic presence of pepper weevil in new pepper growing areas, 26,48 the results of this study provide valuable information on the potential for alternative hosts to maintain weevil populations, improving crop selection, and pest management decision making processes.…”

The Eurasian strawberry blossom weevil, Anthonomus rubi (Herbst, 1795), is established in North America

“…Male genitalia also differs between these two species. The fifth species, Anthonomus eugenii Cano (the pepper weevil; Carpintera 2002), is also fully black and of similar size to A. rubi, but it is a more southern species found in North America only in the southern United States of America as a pest of commercial peppers (Solanaceae) and sometimes found in Canadian pepper greenhouses, likely due to the import of peppers from the United States of America and Mexico (Fernández et al 2020).…”