The cowpea curculio infests field peas, stringbeans, soybean, lima bean, cotton, and strawberry. Black-eyed pea and crowder pea are most commonly attacked. Several leguminous weeds, including vetch, are also hosts. Life History - Cowpea curculio adults pass the winter in crop refuse or weeds, particularly brown sedge, around previously infested plants. The black humpbacked snout beetles, or weevils, leave their overwintering sites from April through July.
Weevils puncture developing pods with their snouts as they feed.
Females lay a single egg in some of the feeding wounds. About 4 days later, brown-headed grubs emerge and infest the seeds of beans and peas. After feeding for 2 or 3 weeks, grubs chew exit holes through the pods, drop to the ground, bore into the soil and pupate. All grubs usually leave the pods within 7 days of each other. Approximately 10 days later, a new generation of adults emerge.