Adults hibernate under tree bark, in cracks in posts, beneath debris or other suitable shelter. However, modern apple orchards offer few shelters and weevils often migrate in numbers to suitable places in adjacent woodland, hedgerows and ditches.
- The adults emerge very early in spring, in late February or March, flying to apple trees at about the time apple buds are breaking. Little flight activity occurs below 12oC but most weevils migrate actively at 18oC.
- The weevils feed on the buds on arrival. They are active mainly, though not exclusively, at night when most crawling, mating and egg-laying occurs.
- After mating, eggs are laid singly from bud-burst onwards, each inserted through a small puncture in the side of a flower bud which the female first makes with her rostrum. The egg is inserted with the ovipositor through the puncture in the side of the bud and is placed in a groove made by the female on an anther lobe.
- Eggs hatch within 10 days. The young larvae graze on the anthers and styles and then nip the base of the petals to form the familiar capped blossom.
- The larvae continue to feed on the flower parts and are full grown after about a month when they pupate within the shelter of the capped blossom.
- Adults emerge 2-3 weeks later. Newly emerged weevils reach their greatest numbers by mid-June feeding on the undersides of apple leaves for a few weeks.
- They then disperse to their winter hibernation sites. A few adults from the parent generation may also survive the winter.