March 2021 Bug of the Month – Polydrusus impressifrons
It appears the Pale Green weevil arrived in Alberta in the last decade. Medicine Hat recorded the first incidence in 2010. Subsequently, they showed up at Frank Lake in 2012, Alyderside in 2013 and Calgary in 2016.
According to Dr. Hector Carcamo, AAFC, “it is not a pest, but several people have asked me about it in the past. It is a somewhat new immigrant to Alberta.”
Originally it came from Europe and it feeds on poplar, birch, elm, willow, oak, rose and strawberry. Adult beetles are about 7mm in length and covered in bright green scales.
These weevils over winter in the pupal stage in trees. They emerge in spring, mate and lay eggs. After the eggs hatch, the larvae fall to the ground and burrow into the soil to eat tree roots. The adults prefer tree leaves and buds.
References:
Insects of Alberta
Bug Guide