How they get here
Pepper weevils are brought into the state in peppers that were grown in the southern tier of states, Mexico and other locations of the American tropics. Because of the biology of the weevil, the peppers often do not show external damage and so fruit from heavily infested fields can be picked, packaged and transported to unsuspecting markets. Weevil adults escape into the local environs of the produce handling facility via the dumping of refuse or damaged fruit into open dumpsters.If there are no pepper fields nearby or other solanaceous crops, then the presence of weevils is of little consequence. However, in southern New Jersey we have nearly 7,000 acres of food (tomato, potato, eggplant, weeds and Peppers) and reproductive hosts (peppers) concentrated in a small area. The number of vegetable farms and their proximity to each other and the movement of produce bins and equipment help the weevils move farm to farm. Pepper weevils are good fliers but it is uncertain how far they can fly. However, flying to adjacent or nearby fields is within their ability. They can be transported on vehicles – a 1930s article noted that a pepper weevil adult was transported on a car’s windshield 15 miles.
Click here to read more about the life cycle of the pepper weevil, management options and the Vegetable IPM Program at rutgers.edu