Pest categorisation of .

The Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the Argentine stem weevil, for the EU. is a well-defined species, recognised as a serious pest of pasture grasses, especially spp. and , in New Zealand, and a rare pest of cereals in Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand. Larvae feed within the tillers and stems of grasses; adults can cut emerging cotyledons although they usually graze on leaves. Larval damage is most serious. Larval feeding causes a reduction in pasture quality that impacts on the production of grazing animals. is not known to occur in the EU and is listed in Annex IIAI of Council Directive 2000/29/EC. established in New Zealand via imported grass seeds and has been intercepted on grass seeds entering the EU. Considering the climatic similarities of the regions where the pest occurs and the very great extent to which hosts are grown across the EU, has the potential to establish within the EU with two or three generations possible per year. Impacts could occur in grassland pastures and perhaps occasionally in cereals. In New Zealand, endophytic fungi occurring on potential hosts deter from ovipositing on leaves and are toxic to larvae. Whether endophytic fungi on grasses in Europe could provide some resistance to is uncertain. Phytosanitary measures are available to reduce the likelihood of introduction of this weevil fits all of the criteria assessed by EFSA to satisfy the definition of a Union quarantine pest does not meet the criterion of occurring in the EU territory for it to be regarded as a Union regulated non-quarantine pest.