The cabbage seedpod weevil has a single generation per year. Adults are ash-grey, 3 mm to 4 mm long, with a prominent curved snout that is typical of the weevil family of beetles. Adults are attracted to canola fields when the crop reaches the bud to early flowering stage.
Crop losses from a cabbage seedpod weevil attack can occur in several ways. When adults invade crops in the bud to early-flowering stages, they feed on flower buds causing them to die off. If environmental conditions are humid after larvae bore exit holes into canola pods, the pods can be invaded by fungal spores that germinate and destroy many more seeds within the pods. When new generation adults emerge late in the season, they feed on seeds within green pods to build up fat stores for overwintering. This can be very destructive to the crop.
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