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Plum curculio damage on Italian plums #768561

Asked August 22, 2021, 2:06 PM EDT

Do I have plum curculio weevil damage (everything points to it) on my Italian plum tree fruit, even though I read that they are only found east of the Rocky Mountains? I’ve attached a weevil photo, though that bug wasn’t on the tree, just in the yard on shade cloth. The plum photos were from earlier this summer. Thank you for you time!

Lane County Oregon

Expert Response

The damage does look very similar, including the crescent shaped scar on the fruit. Have you cut open any of the fruit to look for the larvae? Has the fruit dropped from the tree? I notice some gum or sap like substance in the fruit, do you see any of the gummosis on other parts of the tree? If so, may be more indicative of bacterial canker. If this is plum curculio weevil we will need to get a positive identification. Is any fruit left on the tree? Or are there any more weevils crawling around that you can put into a container? If so, would you be willing to ship a sample up to Corvallis for identification? I can help with this process, please contact me at<personal data hidden> or <personal data hidden>.

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