By the time a few fallen pods are noticed, serious damage has occurred already and many more pods can be expected to fall in the following 10 days. Some infested pods turn red or yellow prematurely and may become malformed before dropping to the ground. Life History - Pepper weevils spend the winter on live pepper or nightshade plants in warm areas of southern California, Texas, and Florida. They spread from their overwintering sites each spring by flying or hitchhiking on pepper plants, picking sacks, or fruit on its way to market. The specifics of their life history have not been studied in North Carolina so the following information is based on the weevil's biology in Florida.
Pepper weevils complete one or two generations on black nightshade weeds in early spring.
They migrate to pepper as soon as plants become available. By June, weevils usually are feeding and laying eggs. Females make holes in buds and fruit, place eggs within them, and seal the holes with brownish fluid. Each female deposits about 200 eggs over a 30-day period. Depending on the temperature, eggs incubate in 3 to 5 days.