This NebGuide discusses the more common pests of strawberries in Nebraska, their damage, and recommended control procedures. Damaging infestations of strawberry pests do not occur in Nebraska in most years. However, control measures are occasionally required to maintain quality, yield, and health of the strawberry bed. The beetles overwinter under surface debris in beds or nearby protected areas.
Weevils become active in the spring about the time flower buds open.
Eggs are deposited in holes eaten in the crown and hatch in about a week. The yellow to pinkish, legless grubs feed in the crown, transform to the pupal stage in their burrows in late summer, and emerge as adults in the fall. The new adults feed on the leaves prior to moving to overwintering sites. Adults injure plants by chewing holes for depositing eggs in crowns and in the bases of leaf stems. Leaf feeding is insignificant except when high populations of weevils are present in newly planted beds.