Pre-diapause boll weevils typically don't mate but instead spend a great deal of time feeding to build up fat reserves for the winter. During this phase of the annual cycle, boll weevils travel great distances. Individual insects may move more than 30 miles in search of remaining food or wintering habitat. Diapausing boll weevils generally spend the winter in leaf litter in wooded areas near cotton fields. However, a few overwinter in fence rows, grass banks and other sites.
Survival is highest in hardwood litter sites.
The boll weevils remain in these overwintering sites until warming temperatures, lengthening days and perhaps moisture trigger the break of diapause. Abundance from year to year varies dramatically because of fluctuations in the severity of winters. Spring-emerging boll weevils search for the nearest cotton field and search for squares there. Those emerging before squares are available may feed on the terminal buds of cotton plants or on the pollen of flowering plants around the field. The boll weevil, however, must have cotton pollen available to successfully mate.