Apple fruit rhynchites

Appearance

Size 2.5 to 4.5 mm. The head and thorax are black with a purple/bronze lustre. The elytra are reddish brown with a central dark line and are studded with rows of holes. They are also hairy.

Naming

Linnaeus, 1767

Distribution

This is a generally common species throughout Europe extending to the U.K., the Middle East and through the Caucasus, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and western Russia.

Habitat

Bushy and well wooded areas especially when rich in Hawthorn and Blackthorn.

Reproduction

The female makes a hole in a fruit and deposits an egg on the developing seed. Next she partly severs the fruit stalk, thereby interrupting the development; ultimately the fruit is dropped and starts to rot. After the larva has completed its development, feeding on the seed, it leaves the fruit and pupates in the soil.
Univoltine. Part of the larvae pupate in the end of the summer, another part enters for a full year in diapause before pupation. The adult beetle emerge the same season when they pupated.