CreatureData

Alfalfa weevil

Hypera postica (Gyllenhal, L., 1813)

Status not recordedbeetles

The alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) is a species in the family Curculionidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 5.3 mm in length.

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Quick facts about the alfalfa weevil

Weight
Not recorded
Length
4 mm – 5.3 mmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grassland, human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Generations a year
Onesrc for Generations a year
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the alfalfa weevil?

ALFALFA WEEVIL · LENGTH 5.3 MMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 5.3 mm, the recorded maximum length of the alfalfa weevil is about 0.3% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

What eats the alfalfa weevil?

Species recorded in published studies and collections.

Recorded predators of the alfalfa weevil

16 on record

  1. Mesophile Sunshiner Amara lunicollis2 sources
  2. Allagelena gracilens2 sources
  3. Amara quenseli2 sources
  4. Cucumber green spider Araniella cucurbitina2 sources
  5. Cantharis fusca2 sources
  6. Amara aenea2 sources
  7. Amara montivaga2 sources
  8. Narrow-dimpled Sunshiner Amara similata2 sources
  9. Pale Moonshiner Amara bifrons2 sources
  10. Amara plebeja2 sources
  11. Anisodactylus binotatus2 sources
  12. Wasp spider Argiope bruennichi2 sources
Show 4 more
  1. Savi's pipistrelle Hypsugo savii2 sources
  2. Tent spider Pisaura mirabilis2 sources
  3. Coal-runner Pterostichus melanarius2 sources
  4. Common stretch spider Tetragnatha extensa2 sources

Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).

References for these records

Where does the alfalfa weevil live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the alfalfa weevil as introduced in 3 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them.

  1. Chinainvasive
  2. Japaninvasive
  3. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the alfalfa weevil endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the alfalfa weevil classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderColeoptera
  5. familyCurculionidae
  6. genusHypera
  7. SpeciesHypera postica (Gyllenhal, L., 1813)

Synonyms Cionus haemorrhoidalis, Curculio bi-maculatus, Curculio bimaculatus, Curculio denigratus, Curculio fasciolatus, Curculio haemhorroidalis, Curculio haemorrhoidalis, Curculio variabilis, Hypera variabilis, Phytonomus picipes, Phytonomus variabilis, Rhynchaenus haemorrhoidalis, Rhynchaenus posticus, Rhynchaenus variabilis

Other names and names in other languages (21)
  • Clover leaf weevilEnglish
  • klikoroh vojtěškovýCzech
  • LucernegnaverDanish
  • Brunbroget snudebilleDanish
  • Luzerne-KokonrüßlerGerman
  • Gorgojo europeo de la alfalfaSpanish
  • mailaskärsäkäsFinnish
  • Charançon de la LuzerneFrench
  • Charançon à dos noir de la luzerneFrench
  • Phytonome de la LuzerneFrench
  • lucerna-pikkelyesormányosHungarian
  • アルファルファタコゾウムシJapanese
  • 알팔파바구미Korean
  • lusernegnagerNorwegian Bokmål
  • KlaversnuittorDutch
  • Gewone luzernekeverDutch
  • ziołomirek lucernowyPolish
  • Долгоносик люцерновый листовойRussian
  • tvrdoň lucernovýSlovak
  • lusernkokongvivelSwedish
  • Довгоносик люцерновийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMS

Relatives of the alfalfa weevil

Other species in the same genus Hypera.

CompareAlfalfa weevil vs Lesser clover weevilAlfalfa weevil vs Clover head weevilAlfalfa weevil vs Egyptian alfalfa weevilAlfalfa weevil vs Hypera abrutiana

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the alfalfa weevil?

An adult alfalfa weevil measures 4 mm – 5.3 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the alfalfa weevil an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the alfalfa weevil as invasive in 2 countries: China and Japan. It lists it as introduced in 3 in all.

What kind of animal is the alfalfa weevil?

The alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) belongs to the family Curculionidae in the order Coleoptera.

What eats the alfalfa weevil?

Animals recorded preying on the alfalfa weevil include mesophile sunshiner, allagelena gracilens, amara quenseli and cucumber green spider. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/alfalfa-weevil

MLA

“Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/alfalfa-weevil.

BibTeX
@misc{alfalfa_weevil_2026,
  title = {Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/alfalfa-weevil},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}