Female weevils insert white eggs into leaf sheaths under water. They then pupate within a water-tight, oval mud cell attached to the roots and emerge 5 to 7 days later. Adults emerge throughout the reproductive stage of rice development and feed on leaves before leaving the field in late summer and fall. Development from egg to adult normally occurs within 35 days. Two generations and possibly a partial third can occur annually.
Mouthparts are for chewing.
Upon reaching host plants, flight muscles of adults degenerate. Larvae chew on roots of developing rice and obtain oxygen from the host plant by means of a paired hooks on the upper surface of their second through seventh abdominal segments. Adults are most active during the evening and night. Alternate host plants include aquatic grasses and sedges that occur in and around rice fields. The root damage caused by high numbers of larvae reduces yield.