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UK: Weevils nibble but they won't slow down on plant damage

Vine weevils are a recognisable garden visitor. You might consider them a pest for the damage they can do to plants.

But for commercial growers, they are a very real problem.

The ornamental plant industry is worth about £800m a year in the UK and weevils do £20m of damage a year.

If a grower sends plants to a seller who discovers any weevils or telltale signs of leaf damage, then the whole batch will be returned.

There's a few reasons why vine weevils can be such a problem.

They're all female and reproduce without sex.

That means you can go from just one to an infestation in a short period of time.

The adults are nocturnal, so hard to spot, and the larvae are even more secretive, hiding in the soil and demolishing the roots.

Read more at BBC News (David Gregory-Kumar)

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