Family: Curculionidae
Subfamily: Brachycerinae
Length: 5-6 mm
An accidentally introduced species, Phyllobius oblongus was first noticed in upstate New York in 1923. It can be locally common in West Virginia, particularly at higher elevations.
Adults feed on leaves and the tender shoots of orchard trees as well as Maple, Elm, Birch, Willow, and other hardwoods.
These beetles begin mating immediately after emerging from the soil, and the females oviposit about twelve days later. The eggs are laid 2-5 cm below the surface of the soil, and take take about thirty days to hatch. The larvae feed on fine roots and pass through five instars. They overwinter in the soil and pupate in the spring.
A study of forest weevils in portions of Wisconsin and Michigan found that of all the weevil larvae collected, all were introduced species, with Phyllobius oblongus as one of the two or three most common.
