Comparison of population growth rates of confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), on endophyte-infected or endophyte-uninfected seeds of ground tall fescue and perennial ryegrass

Abstract

The population growth rates of Tribolium confusum reared on seeds of three cultivars of ground tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Shreb.) infected and not infected with endophytes were compared. The numbers of adults reared on seeds of the three cultivars infected with endophytes were significantly lower than the numbers of adults reared on seeds without endophyte infection, after 10 weeks (p<0.0001; structured ANOVA). The results suggest that endophyte-infected seeds adversely affected the population growth of Tribolium confusum. A similar experiment was carried out using seeds of two cultivars of endophyte-infected ground perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and seeds of three cultivars of non-infected ground perennial ryegrass. In this case, the inhibitory effect of endophyte-infected seeds was not detected.