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Seasonal Foraging Resources of Mississippi Boll Weevils

G. D. Jones, J. R. Coppedge, E. F. Wilson and D. D. Hardee


 
ABSTRACT

Foraging resources of boll weevils Anthonomus grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Delta of Mississippi were determined from pollen analyses of adults captured from June 1996 through January 1997. Over 4,300 boll weevils were processed in 750 samples. There were 39,183 pollen grains and 208 pollen types found in the samples. Pollen from 75 families, 115 genera, and 27 species was identified in the samples. Four plant families contained ten or more taxa: Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Malvaceae. Summer samples were dominated by pollen from families Caprifoliaceae (20%), Poaceae (17%), and Asteraceae (11%); Fall by Asteraceae (76%); and, Winter by Brassicaceae (57%). Asteraceae pollen occurred in more than 50% of the samples in all three seasons. Species diversity ranged from 4.4 in Summer's samples to 2.6 in Winter's, indicating a decrease in foraging resources from Summer to Winter. Our research indicates that boll weevils captured in Mississippi forage on pollen from a diversity of plant species regardless of the season.



Reprinted from Proceedings of the 1999 Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 899 - 901
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified Monday, Jun 21 1999