curculio

American  

[kur-kyoo-lee-oh] / kɜrˈkju liˌoʊ /

noun

curculios plural

1. any of several weevils, especially one of the genus Conotrachelus, as C. nenuphar plum curculio, which feeds on plums, cherries, and other fruits.

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curculio British  

/ kɜːˈkjuːlɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. any of various American weevils, esp Conotrachelus nenuphar ( plum curculio ), a pest of fruit trees

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• curculios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of curculio

1750–60; < Latin: weevil, corn worm

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curculio curculios

In the 1890s many smaller growers struggled to afford expensive and elaborate controls to combat pests such as San Jose scale and plum curculio.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2023

Plum curculio worms may show up in fruits if the trees are too deep in the ground — so get all the root flares dramatically exposed by removing mulch and soil.

From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2020

David Riley, a professor of entomology at the University of Georgia, works with vegetable pests like cowpea curculio, which has decimated the state’s black-eye pea fields.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2019

He also controls predation from the plum curculio, a snout beetle that’s a major pest of many fruits, not just plums.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2017

Am troubled only with root aphis, codling-moth, and curculio.

From The Apple by Various

Clean cultivation will also do away with many of the curculios, since they depend on unbroken soil in the fall for their metamorphosis.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Report Wooster, Ohio, September 3, 4, 5, 1946 by Northern Nut Growers Association

The arsenate of lead in the mixture will control the young of leaf eating insects and precocious plum curculios.

From Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 Embracing the Transactions of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society,Volume 44, from December 1, 1915, to December 1, 1916, Including the Twelve Numbers of "The Minnesota Horticulturist" for 1916 by Latham, A. W.

BROOKS: That is true of all of these curculios.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting New York City, September 3, 4 and 5, 1924 by Northern Nut Growers Association

Lead arsenate, 4 pounds per 100 gallons of water, has been relied upon in the past for control of various nut curculios.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting Pleasant Valley, New York, August 28, 29 and 30, 1950 by Northern Nut Growers Association

Scrobe, skrōb, n. a groove in the rostrum of weevils or curculios, or on the outer side of the mandible.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various