Strawberry blossom weevil: how to recognise and treat it

Pest

Symptoms

Flower buds hang on a partly severed stalk, wither and drop without opening; the female lays an egg in the bud and then gnaws the stalk.
A small, curved, creamy-white larva with a brown head lives inside the withered bud.
Dull black weevils 2–4 mm long with fine grey hairs and a long snout on buds and flowers in spring.
Small round holes in petals and in young folded leaves.
Damage is patchy and worst near hedges and woodland; in a heavy attack most flowers can be lost.

Pick up and destroy severed buds, on the plant and on the ground — the larvae develop inside them.
Brush or shake the plants over a light-coloured bowl to catch and destroy the adult weevils.
Spare spiders, ladybirds and birds; small parasitic wasps also attack the larvae.

Pyrethrins on the adult weevils before flowering, when the first severed buds appear; good spray cover is needed. Check the product is approved for strawberries in your country and follow the label dose and pre-harvest interval.

Reference information, not a guarantee. Read and follow the label of any product: dose, safety and the days to wait before harvest.

From the start of flower-stalk growth in spring, check the plants weekly for severed buds and adult weevils.
Inspect first the edges of the bed next to hedges or woodland, where the adults overwinter in the leaf litter.
Early varieties and young plants suffer most; everbearing varieties usually make up for lost buds later in the season.

Figures checked against these sources.