Journal of Pest Science (2018) 91, 1063-1071

Leonardo M. Turchen, Lírio Cosme Jr. and Raul Narciso C. Guedes (2018)
Bidirectional selection of walking velocity, associated behavioral syndrome and reproductive output in the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais
Journal of Pest Science 91 (3), 1063-1071
Abstract: Individual behavioral types (i.e., personality traits) and their interrelations (i.e., behavioral syndrome) are recognized in arthropods and are of ecological and evolutionary importance. This aspect is also important in applied entomology, as distinct personality types may exhibit different fitness consequences. Here, we attempt to understand how within-population variation in a personality trait responds to selection and affects other personality traits. Our main focus was a quantifiable behavioral trait (i.e., walking velocity), its potential association with other personality traits, and how these traits are related to the reproductive output. The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), a key pest of stored cereal grains, was used to test these hypotheses, and we detected that walking velocity is amenable to selection in this species. Furthermore, bidirectional selection with regard to walking velocity (i.e., either high or low) had an impact on the behavioral type, thereby allowing the recognition of different behavioral patterns among the strains. The generated multi-dimensional behavioral constructs of personality indicate consistent divergence among the strains with a stronger contribution of the activity dimension. Walking velocity was associated with other behavioral traits, particularly within the activity dimension, indicating the existence of a behavioral syndrome in the maize weevil. Furthermore, this behavioral dimension (i.e., activity), and particularly walking velocity, was associated with the reproductive output of maize weevil.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Raul Narciso C. Guedes

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sitophilus zeamais