Insect Science (2006) 13, 287-292

John Scott Armstrong, Allan T. Showler, Mamoudou Sétamou and Shoil Greenberg (2006)
Sublethal effects of malathion on boll weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) fecundity when maintained on cotton squares or artificial diet
Insect Science 13 (4), 287-292
Abstract: Mated 3-day-old female boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, reared from field-infested cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) squares were topically treated with an estimated LD₅₀ of malathion (2 µg) to assess its effects on fecundity, oviposition, and body fat condition. Two different food sources, cotton squares and artificial diet, were assessed in malathion-treated and nontreated (control) weevils. The LD₅₀ caused ~50% mortality in the square-fed malathion treatment, but the artificial diet-fed malathion-treated weevils were less susceptible. LD₅₀ survivors fed on the squares produced > 9 times more chorionated eggs in the ovaries and oviposited > 19-fold more than survivors fed artificial diet, regardless of the malathion treatment. Boll weevils that survived a 2 µg LD₅₀ malathion and also fed squares were ~4.5-fold leaner than diet-fed weevils. Our findings demonstrate that non-resistant boll weevils surviving a sublethal dose of malathion will reproduce without any delay or significant loss in fecundity, and the food source for which boll weevils are maintained when conducting these assays will directly affect the results. The significance of these findings and how they are related to the final stages of eradicating the boll weevil from the US are discussed.
(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): J. Scott Armstrong, Allan T. Showler, Mamoudou Sétamou, Shoil M. Greenberg

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anthonomus grandis	Cotton (Gossypium)