Do Vine Weevils Eat Roses?

Who does not like to maintain a garden full of fragrant roses? However, with roses, it is important to be wary of insects that may attack them and hinder their growth. One such insect which gardeners need to learn to be careful about is vine weevils. So, do vine weevils eat roses?

Yes, vine weevils do eat and attack roses. The vine weevils which eat roses are aptly known as rose weevils. 

Another name the rose weevils go by is the fuller rose beetle. These fuller rose beetles are brown and cannot fly but do have the appearance of having wing casings.

You can tell these are beetles on your roses by their familiar snout, fairly iconic of all vine weevils. The beetles also have big eyes, which is something different from other beetles.

Do Vine Weevils Kill Roses?

It would help to understand how vine weevils work better by looking at the damage they cause. The damage to the leaves and flowers is done by adult weevils, while the larvae damage the roots.

If the damage is extensive, it is quite possible for your rose plant to die if you do not control the weevils.

The fuller rose beetle will eat the plants in such a manner that it leaves notched edges behind and causes a ragged appearance on leaves. If there is a heavy infestation in your garden, it is likely that these insects will consume the entire leaf, leaving the midrib behind only.

Perhaps the larvae are more dangerous than the adult vine weevils themselves. The larvae eat fast and in greater quantities. Their damage is also hidden, underground.

The larvae consume root hair while the older larvae cause damage to actual roots. This leads to stunted growth in plants as it becomes impossible for the roots to absorb the nutrition that they require.

The plant becomes susceptible to diseases, including fungal infections, which can result in the rose dying. This is why it is important to recognise the vine weevil problem early so you can prevent all the damage from happening.

Do Vine Weevils Eat All Roses?

With different species of roses out there, you may wonder if vine weevils may spare some. Unfortunately, no species of roses are safe from attacks by vine weevils. Vine weevils love to consume roses, whether it be adults or their larvae, which is why it becomes important to protect your rose plants from these insects. 

If you do not notice any visible adult vine weevils on your plants, but your rose plant still looks damaged, the grubs may be eating away from under the soil.

This is, unfortunately, the case for climbing, shrub and specimen rose varieties.

How Do You Protect Roses from Vine Weevils?

When you notice that your rose plants are suffering, the first thing you need to do is to look carefully at the damage. Vine weevil damage may look like notched leaves from the edges accompanied by droopy leaves and stunted growth.

You can go out in your garden during the night when vine weevils are active to look for them. If you spot adult vine weevils during the night, there will be larvae too and possibly a large infestation.

If you notice the damage in its early days and begin the treatment of these fuller rose beetles from the beginning, the plant should recover. The plant will begin to mend its roots and grow new leaves with good treatment. Here are some ways you can protect your rose plants from vine weevils:

Handpick

If you spot only a few of these insects in your garden, you can handpick them. However, you need to ensure that you do this during the nighttime when vine weevils are most active.

You can collect the vine weevils by shaking the rose plant onto something like a newspaper or white sheet of paper. Next, you can get rid of the insects by putting them in soapy water. This will ensure that no more eggs are laid and the cycle stops. 

Using Chemicals 

Unfortunately, handpicking them will not be enough if you have a large infestation of vine weevils. It would help if you went for chemical control that attacks the vine weevils on the rose plant and kills the grubs on the root level.

This will provide you with control over the population of vine weevils and the larvae.

However, using chemicals is harsh, and many people do not recommend using them as the first choice. It is best first to use other methods and then move on to use chemicals if that does not work for you as there’s a risk you’ll also kill beneficial insects.

Neem Oil

A natural approach to dealing with vine weevils is to use neem oil in your garden. However, you will need to be consistent with the method and apply the oil every 7 to 14 days.

This method is a good approach to dealing with adult beetles in your garden. If you figure out that you have the problem in its early stages and use neem oil, you will be able to gain some control.

Summary 

Everyone loves having roses in their garden. However, rose plants can fall victim to vine weevils, as they will eat rose plants. Vine weevils can eat roses, and notched leaves are one of the signs of damage. Moreover, vine weevils will eat all species of roses, so there is none that is left behind.

The good news is that there are some plants that vine weevils don’t like. We have revealed them all here!