Pest profile

Strawberry Root Weevil

Otiorhynchus ovatus · Coleoptera: Curculionidae[2]

Strawberry root weevil is a common root weevil that chews notches in leaves at night and often wanders into homes.[1]

Strawberry root weevil, a small shiny black snout beetle with ridged wing covers, on a pale surface
Strawberry root weevil, a small shiny black snout beetle with ridged wing covers, on a pale surface. Photo: Brighton Lee, public domain (CC0), via iNaturalist

How to identify it

  • Adults are flightless snout beetles that cut angular notches along leaf edges at night.[1]
  • When disturbed they drop from plants and play dead.[1]
  • Larvae are legless, cream-colored grubs with a pale orange-brown head that feed on roots.[1]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Black vine weevilA related root weevil with a similar life history, more often seen indoors in late summer and fall.[1]
Lilac root weevilAnother relative, usually on lilac, privet, peony and euonymus.[1]

Where it lives

It's one of the most common root weevils in Colorado.[1]

US map: public records from 35 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Only females are produced, and they reproduce without mating; there's one generation a year.[1]

Larvae overwinter in soil feeding on roots, and adults emerge in mid to late spring and can live a couple of months.[1]

Damage and signs

  • Hosts include strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb, white clover, dandelion, dahlia and mint, plus roots and bark of some trees and shrubs.[1]

Health risk

Indoors it causes no injury to people or furnishings and won't reproduce there.[1]

Control

Traps and physical control

Search plants about an hour after sunset to confirm which weevil is feeding.[1]

Biological control

Heterorhabditis nematodes drenched into moist soil from mid-July to mid-September control the larvae.[1]

Pesticides

Pyrethroids sprayed on the lower trunk and plant base late in the day kill climbing adults; avoid spraying flowers bees visit.[1]

Common questions

Why are small black weevils coming into my house in summer?
Strawberry root weevils often wander indoors in hot, dry weather in late June and July.[1]
Are root weevils harmful indoors?
No; they don't injure people or furnishings and won't breed indoors.[1]

Sources

  1. Colorado State University Extension, “Root Weevils (Fact Sheet 5.551).” extension.colostate.edu/resource/root-weevils/ (accessed 2026-10-06)
  2. iNaturalist, “Otiorhynchus ovatus taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/200014 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-14. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.