This photo of what looks like a beautiful beetle is a very damaging pest known as the Citrus root weevil. The adults feed on foliage while the larva feeds on roots. This is a pest not only of citrus but many ornamental trees, fruit trees, and agricultural root crops in Florida. Infected plants were brought into FL in the '60s from Puerto Rico.
A single female may lay as many as 5,000 eggs during her life of three to four months.
Larva just hatched burrow into the soil, and begin to feed on fibrous roots, then feed on larger roots as they mature. After feeding, they pupate in the soil, emerging later as adults.
The length of time spent in the larval and pupal stages varies from several months to more than a year. Thus, the life cycles result in overlapping generations.
Might want to step on this one after taking its picture!
