This beetle is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed known as Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius).

The female lays about ten eggs on the seed pod of the plant.

When the seed pod ripens and splits open, adult weevils emerge.

It was introduced to the United States by accident but was found to drastically reduce seed production in Scotch broom, its host plant.

It became one of the newest insects to be deliberately released for the control of the plant in the 1990s.