Pepper plant bug

[vister]

So, I checked my pepper plants this morning. I have bells, super chiles, jalapeño, and Caribbean red hots, growing quite happily outdoors in large containers. I noticed a bug I've never seen before. It was about 1/4" long, kinda gray with maybe black streaks? And a long, thick, mosquito type mandible/straw/sucker, whatever it may be called. Plucked it off, and as it was laying in my palm, it uptighted itself, and when I thought it might "sting" me, I flipped it on the ground and stomped on it. My web searches show it is a pepper weevil. And my searches also show it is an insect found down south. Anyone ever see these before?

And for what it's worth, it was on an early sunsation yellow bell plant

[outdoors247]

I don't like to use insecticide but was given no choice this year. I had a bug eating the leafs and they had dozens of holes throughout the leafs of my jalapeno plants. I used the product below and haven't had a problem since. You want to read the directions well as you have to wait 7 days to harvest after using and there is a max limit on the number of applications per year. The label says it kills over 100 different bugs.

[pushbutton]

Don't recall ever seeing one. If not an infestation always kind a like seeing the different little critters out there. Even think potato bugs are cool to look at, again though, if my plants are not being hurt that bad. Since most nursery plants are mostly grown down south and assuming you bought plants. ....would think you got yourself a stow away that hatched from the soil.