D3454: Development of a digital identification key on economically important weevil pest species in the Caribbean and Florida pathways

In recent years, numerous invasive weevil species are becoming serious pests to agricultural crops in the Caribbean and Florida Pathways. These pests include established and potentially invasive species of agricultural importance. With the erratic climate change, the efforts needed behind identification is of high importance. The use of commodity-based identification and training tools are extremely important and critical as well. For example, the citrus root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was established in the United States nearly 60 years ago, and costs millions of dollars annually to control this serious pest in Florida alone. Similary, the other species such as the hibiscus bud weevil, Anthonomus testaceosquamosus Linell (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); the South American palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum (L.) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae); and the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) are potential threats to economically important crops in Florida and the Caribbean countries. Numerous weevil species are distinctly similar in physical characteristics and appearances. Therefore, their identification can be a daunting task for the end-users. Indeed, these pests pose serious challenges to plant industry, food security, trade, and natural resources. This study was conducted to report economically important weevils (41 species within 23 genera) and identify them using Lucid platform for stakeholders and clientele. The user friendly interactive digital key provides a list of weevils’ diagnostic characters and high-definition images to end-users (port of entry screeners, identifiers, extension agents, pest managers, scientists, students, and public) to obtain proper identification for decision making.