All stages (egg, larva,
pupa and adult) are spent inside the palm itself and the life cycle cannot be completed
elsewhere. The females deposit about 300 eggs in separate holes or injuries on the
palm.
Eggs hatch in 2 to 5 days into legless grubs which bore into the interior of the palms,
moving by peristaltic muscular contractions of the body and feed on the soft succulent
tissues, discarding all fibrous material. The larval period varies from 1 to 3 months. The
grubs pupate in an elongate oval, cylindrical cocoons made out of fibrous strands. At the
end of the pupation period which lasts 14 to 21 days, the adult weevils emerge. Thus the
life cycle is about 4 months.
