A NEW AVOCADO WEEVIL FROM THE CANAL ZONE 



By H. F. Dietz, 1 Entomological Inspector, with description of the species by H. S. 

 Barber, Assistant, Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture 



INTRODUCTION 



The Federal quarantine against the avocado weevil (Heilipus lauri 

 Boheman) led Mr. James Zetek, Entomologist of the Panama Canal, and 

 the writer, during the service of the latter in the Canal Zone, to search for 

 the weevil in the native avocados in Panama. The weevil proves to be 

 a species previously unknown to science, but the results of investigations 

 of the breeding habits of these potential pests, still very imperfectly un- 

 derstood, supply the first records of field observations under natural 

 conditions. 



Two closely related species of avocado weevils are known. 2 As the 

 first, H. lauri Boheman, is indigenous to Mexico and the second, H. 

 pittieri Barber, is native in Costa Rica, the existence of this new form 

 had already been suspected. 3 Its discovery is of special interest, how- 

 ever, since it has been recently intercepted entering the United States.* 



FIELD OBSERVATIONS 



Two males of this weevil had been found in June, 191 8, feeding on the 

 leaves of small seedling avocado trees in a nursery at Ancon, C. Z., by 

 Mr. Zetek, and further search was rewarded in April and May, 191 9, when 

 "wild" avocado fruits, the seeds of which contained Heilipus larvae, were 

 collected at the large avocado plantation at Frijoles, C. Z. These fruits 

 came from large trees growing wild at the edge of a plantation and at a 

 considerable distance from the cultivated, bearing trees. Attempts to 

 determine the previous history of these "wild" trees were unavailing. 

 Infested fruits were brought to the Board of Health Laboratory at Ancon, 

 and the adults reared from them did not differ from the two collected in 1 9 1 8 

 or from the large specimen which had been sent to the National Museum 

 by Mr. F. H. Jackson about 191 2. From the occurrence described above 

 and from the date of the last-mentioned specimen it would appear that 

 the species is endemic in Panama, but there remains a possibility that it 



1 Resigned Nov. 3, 1919. 



4 Barber, H. S. avocado seed weeviis. In Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., v. 21, no. 3, p. 53-60, pi. 2. 1919. 



3 A very large specimen was received at the United States National Museum about 1912 from Las Cas- 

 cadas, C Z. (F. H. Jackson, cftllector), but it was not treated in the paper by H. S. Barber cited above 

 because of absence of data definitely associating it with avocado. Other close relatives with similar habits 

 will undoubtedly be found in other avocado-growing regions of tropical America. 



* This interception was made by Mr. O. K. Courtney, Port Inspector of the Federal Horticultural Board 

 at New Orleans, La., in October, 1919. H. perseae Barber was found in an avocado seed in the baggage of a 

 steamship passenger arriving at New Orleans from Cristobal, C. Z. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. XX, No. 2 



Washington, D. C. Oct. 15, 1920 



vd Key No. K-8 S 



(III) 



