Abstract The palmetto weevil, Rhynchophorus cruentatus (Fabricius), is a pest of cultivated palms in Florida. The larvae of this species and 2 other important Rhynchophorus pests, R. ferrugineus (Olivier) and R. palmarum (L.), feed internally and cause structural damage to palm fronds, trunks, and offshoots. Often, infestations are not detected until the tree suffers irreparable damage. Acoustic methods used previously to detect R. ferrugineus in field environments were applied to investigate detectability of early instar R. cruentatus larvae. Sounds from neonates inoculated into palm fronds were recorded for 120 s periods at 7-day intervals for 56 days in urban (exposed) and acoustically shielded (enclosed) conditions that might be encountered when screening offshoots for sale or transportation. The sounds were classified by automated spectral analyses into multiple categories, including vehicle noise, bird calls, and broadband, 0.3-3-ms larval sound impulses. Because spectral characteristics alone are n...