Diapause Response of the Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Selected Diets

Abstract The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), once the dominant pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.) in the United States, is now the most serious pest of South American cotton. Despite eradication efforts in the United States, intractable populations in southern Texas and northern Mexico remain a threat to adjoining regions. A key to eliminating this pest from the subtropics may lie in better understanding mechanisms facilitating survival through the non–cotton season. We examined the diapause response to diet regimes by evaluating the influences of food type (square, boll), size, and replacement interval, under photoperiod (13:11 [L:D] h) and temperature conditions (29.4°C) considered to suppress diapause. Female weevils exhibited diapause characters earlier than did males on all diets, and physiological status was not reliably evaluated until adults were 9 d old. When squares fed to groups of weevils were replaced thrice weekly, most weevils responded with symptom...