Agave-pest

Guides

• Hydropionea fenestralis

  Hydropionea fenestralis is a small crambid moth described in 1914, with forewings 12–15 mm in length. Adults display a distinctive reticulated wing pattern and are active from May to October. The species was long considered a mystery regarding its larval biology until 2023, when researchers documented it as a seed borer in Agave salmiana fruits in central Mexico—an unusual host association given its phylogenetic placement in Glaphyriinae. The moth occurs in mountainous regions of the southwestern United States and Mexico, with confirmed records from Arizona, Mississippi, Durango, Veracruz, and Puebla.

  seed-borerAgave-pestpulque-agavemontane-mothcrambid-snout-mothDNA-barcodinghost-shiftGlaphyriinaenocturnallight-attracted

• Peltophorus polymitus

  Speckled Agave Weevil

  Peltophorus polymitus is a true weevil (Curculionidae) native to North America, widely distributed throughout Mexico. Adults and larvae feed on multiple agave species, including cultivated plants used for food, medicine, and mezcal production. Despite causing documented plant damage, it has not been formally classified as a pest species. Two subspecies are recognized: P. p. seminiveus and P. p. suffusus.

  weevilagave-pestMexicoCurculionidaeagricultural-pestmezcaltequilaherbivoresubspecies:-seminiveussubspecies:-suffusus