Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2007) 125, 269-276

K.M. Addesso, H.J. McAuslane, P.A. Stansly and D.J. Schuster (2007)
Host-marking by female pepper weevils, Anthonomus eugenii
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 125 (3), 269-276
Abstract: Pepper weevils, Anthonomus eugenii Cano (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), feed and oviposit in flower buds and small fruits of plants in the genus Capsicum, as well as several species of Solanum (Solanaceae). Females chew a small hole into the fruit, deposit a single egg within the cavity, and seal the hole with a clear anal secretion that hardens into an 'oviposition plug'. Female oviposition behavior was studied in a series of small-arena bioassays to determine whether previous oviposition in Jalapeño pepper fruit deterred subsequent oviposition and to determine what specific cues from an infested fruit influence female behavior. In choice and no-choice tests, females preferred clean fruit to fruit that had received four eggs 24 h previously (i.e., infested fruit), whether the fruit was infested with conspecific eggs or their own eggs. Further bioassays demonstrated that the presence of female frass, or oviposition plugs alone, in the absence of eggs or any fruit damage, was sufficient to deter oviposition. In addition, females given the choice between an infested fruit with the oviposition plug removed or an unaltered infested fruit preferred the fruit with no plugs, even when eggs, frass, and feeding damage were still present. To determine whether females would avoid infested peppers under more natural conditions, we quantified oviposition on infested and uninfested sentinel pepper fruit within individually caged plants and on clean and infested plants caged together. Females consistently laid more eggs on clean fruit than on infested fruits and moved within and among pepper plants to search for more acceptable oviposition sites. We conclude that oviposition plugs, along with contaminated female, but not male, frass contain a deterrent that, in the absence of any other cue, is enough to alert a female that a patch is occupied.
(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): Heather J. McAuslane, Philip A. Stansly, Karla M. Addesso

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.
	Anthonomus eugenii	Green pepper/chilli (Capsicum)