The sweet potato weevil is about 1/4 inch long and resembles a large ant. The head, snout, and wing covers are dark blue, and the prothorax and legs are reddish orange. It has well-developed wings and is capable of limited flight. The eggs are yellowish white while the larvae are white, legless, and about 3/8 inch long. The pupae are white and somewhat shorter.

The adult places its eggs in small cavities that it punctures either into the stem of the plant near the ground or directly into the sweet potato. The eggs hatch in about a week, and the grubs then feed in the vine or potato for about two or three weeks. The pupa is formed within the stem. The adult may live for several months, the time varying with the weather and the conditions under which the potatoes are stored. In a year, six to eight generations may be produced. The adult weevils damage sweet potato plants by feeding on leaves, vines, and roots and by pitting the potatoes with feeding and egg deposition cavities. However, it is the larvae that cause the gravest damage by their feeding and tunneling through vines and potatoes.