Longevity of Laboratory-Reared Boll Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Offered Honey Bee-Collected Pollen and Plants Unrelated to Cotton

Abstract

Understanding the ability of the boll weevil to survive on plants other than cotton is important in understanding how to control or eradicate this pest. Laboratory-reared adult boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, were given a variety of foods. When honey bee-collected pollen and water was offered, 78.9% survived for 10 days, 56.7% survived for 15 days, and 13.5% survived for 35 days. When weevils were fed a diet of 1.0% pollen + 1.0% sucrose, 76.7% survived for 10 days and 20% survived for 15 days. Due to high mortality this test was discontinued after 15 days. Decreasing the concentration of sugar and pollen in the diet to 1.0% or less resulted in significantly increased mortality. Boll weevils offered nine plant species common to northeast Mississippi lived as long as 8–16 days. Weevils survived longest on primrose, Oenothera speciosa Nuttall; sow thistle, Sonchus asper L.; and dandelion, Taraxacum officinale Weber because of pollen and seed heads present in the flowers which were not found in the other species tested. Weevils survived twice as long on unadulterated pollen plus water compared with the best plant species tested on low doses (1.0%) of pollen plus sucrose.