Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

2023 August 27

This little green weevil got into the house on July 9, 2023. I actually photographed one of these before, back in back in 2009, but that one was (a) pretty beat up, and (b) dead, so I thought some pictures of a live one would be good.

It is a Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil, Polydrusus formosus. They are a fairly brilliant green that is very visible on a non-green surface, but on plant leaves they blend in well. The color is in the form of tiny scales that cover almost their entire body.

Anyway, as you might gather from the common name, these are an invasive species from Europe that has become widespread in the northeastern US and southeastern Canada. Up until around 2009, we had a big outbreak of them to the point where they were everywhere, but since then their population crashed to the point where we barely see them anymore. I’ve seen maybe a dozen or so this year, which is a bit more than in the past. This might mean that they have hit a more or less stable population, or it could mean that they are building up their numbers for another big population surge. Time will tell.

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