Diet

• Larvae: Feed internally within seeds, flower buds, stems, leaf stalks, roots, or developing fruits of a wide variety of plants. Many species specialize on legumes (Fabaceae), while others utilize plants in the mallow, daisy, knotweed, and rose families.

• Adults: Feed on leaves, buds, flowers, pollen, and developing seeds of their host plants, often producing small, round feeding holes.

Range

• The subfamily Apioninae is distributed worldwide, with its greatest diversity in temperate and tropical regions.

• Numerous genera and species occur throughout Mexico, including the Pacific coast of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

• Members of the subfamily occupy habitats from sea level to mountainous forests.

Habitat

• Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical rainforests, grasslands, woodland edges, thorn scrub, secondary forests, gardens, orchards, and agricultural fields.

• Adults are commonly found on the flowers, stems, seed pods, and leaves of their host plants.

• Larvae develop concealed within plant tissues, where they are well protected from predators.

Size

• Adult length: 1–5 mm (0.04–0.20 in)

• Body compact and pear-shaped, with a long, slender snout (rostrum) that is often nearly as long as the body.