Palmetto Weevil or Sabal Caterpillar?

[Scot from SC]

I was picking up some sabal minor seeds off the ground...there are many left on stalks. Anyway, I was popping the fruit off with my thumb nail when my nail went into the actual seed. Something white was everywhere, and upon closer inspection it was a white larvae I had popped. At first I was stressed that it might be a palmetto weavil, but my research on the internet did not mention weavils having any part of their lives in the seed. Another site mentioned sabal caterpillar as the probable pest. My question: will this insect harm my minor? Thanks!

I posted this on another forum today, and someone said that palmetto weevils do lay eggs in seeds of sabals. I don't know the upper range of this pest. I live a bit northwest of Columbia.

Here is a picture of the minor. It grows well and seems healthy.

[Scot from SC]

I found a fruit on the stalk that was hollow. It had a perfect circle where something emerged as an adult I assume. Here is a picture of the seed:

[Scot from SC]

I posted this at a couple of other boards and found out that they (Sabal caterpillars) won't harm the palm and are common...maybe 20% of seed of palmettos and minors get have the moth larvae in them. I was told if I wanted I could soak seeds in a mild solution of water and insecticide before planting. I have so many seeds and volunteers that I dig up that I figure the moths can have a few. I hope this information helps someone else.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Scot from SC

[smithgn]

Very interesting, I learn something new everyday. Perhaps next year my sabal minor will start seeding and I'll keep an eye out for anything like this.

Scot, do you have problems with mealybugs? They've been attacking the heck out of my chamadorea microspadix, or at least, I think they're mealybugs. Any of these pesky guys attacking any of your plants?

[Scot from SC]

Hey Nick. So far I have been fortunate. I have tons of ladybugs and other insects that hopefully eat a lot of pests. How are you treating them?

[smithgn]

That's good to hear. I have plenty of lizards in my backyard but have yet to see any ladybugs lol. I've been buying this soap/liquid spray insecticide and have been spraying off and on the last month or two. Visually, you can't see any of the mealybugs but the damage to the leaves is still on going; including to very new suckering stems and leaflets coming in from the base. I e-mailed Gayland about a month ago and he said that with the cold weather, the mealybugs will "go away". Hopefully for good.