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Article
Circadian rhythms of feeding, oviposition, and emergence of the boll weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Insect Science
  • Shoil M. Greenberg, United States Department of Agriculture
  • J. S. Armstrong, United States Department of Agriculture
  • Mamoudou Setamou, Texas A & M University - Weslaco
  • Thomas W. Sappington, United States Department of Agriculture
  • Randy J. Coleman, United States Department of Agriculture
  • Tong-Xian Liu, Texas A & M University - Weslaco
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Publication Date
12-1-2006
DOI
10.1111/j.1744-7917.2006.00116.x
Abstract

Circadian rhythm of feeding, oviposition, and emergence of boll weevil adults were determined at five different photophases (24, 14, 12, 10, and 0 hours) and a constant 27°C temperature, 65% RH in the laboratory. Squares from Petri dishes, where they were exposed to boll weevil females, were removed and examined for feeding and oviposition punctures every 4 hours during daylight (0700–1900 h) and every 12 h at night (1900–0700 h) over eight consecutive days. Cohorts of randomly selected egg-punctured squares were sampled from ovipositing females at 0700, 1100, 1500, and 1900 during 24 hours and under different photophase treatments, and maintained in Petri dishes at 27 ± 1°C, 65% RH. Dishes were observed twice daily (1900 and 0700 h) for adults emerging at day or night. Circadian rhythm of oviposition was not affected by the length of the photophase. The boll weevil has round-the-clock circadian rhythm of oviposition, with a daytime preference. We observed that 82.4%-86.0% of the boll weevil eggs were deposited between 0700 and 1900 h, and 14.0%-17.6% between 1900 and 0700 h during a 24-h period. Feeding of boll weevil females in photoperiods 24: 0 h (complete light) and 0: 24 h (complete darkness) did not significantly change between 0700–1900 h versus 1900–0700 h, while the daily cycle of light and darkness in other photoperiods significantly increased the feeding punctures from 0700–1900 compared with 1900–0700 h. The circadian rhythm of emergence depended significantly on the time of oviposition and the length of the photophase. Investigation of boll weevil circadian rhythm provides a better understanding of boll weevil ecology and reveals potential weak links for improving control technologies targeting their reproductive strategies.

Comments

This article is from Insect science 13 (2006): 461, doi:10.1111/j.1744-7917.2006.00116.x.

Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Shoil M. Greenberg, J. S. Armstrong, Mamoudou Setamou, Thomas W. Sappington, et al.. "Circadian rhythms of feeding, oviposition, and emergence of the boll weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)" Insect Science Vol. 13 Iss. 6 (2006) p. 461 - 467
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/thomas_sappington/66/