Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:24:35.222Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Development of larvae of the whitefringed weevil, Graphognathus leucoloma (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in northern Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

N. Gough*
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, Indooroopilly, Queensland, Australia
J.D. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, PO Box 591, Ayr, Queensland, 4807 Australia
*
Dr N. Gough, Department of Primary Industries, Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068Australia.

Abstract

Growth of larvae of the whitefringed weevil, Graphognathus leucoloma (Boheman), was studied in the laboratory and on various crops in pots in a shadehouse at Kairi, on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland. In the laboratory at 25.5 ± 1°C there were 11 instars for which head capsule widths and weights were recorded. The first instar weighed 0.14 mg. This was a non-feeding stage capable of prolonged survival, and after 10 weeks in soil without food 60% survived. When provided with carrot (Daucus carota) larvae grew to 2 or 3 mg after 6 to 7 weeks, then increased rapidly in weight reaching 140 mg after 120 days. At 25.5°C the average time from first instar to adult was 311 days, due in part to a long prepupal period. Larval growth was measured on the roots of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) plants in pots in summer and winter. Under summer conditions (mean soil temperature 23.3°C) larvae reached 140 mg in about 120 days, similar to that in the laboratory on carrot. These fully grown larvae remained in the pots over the mild winter without pupating. Larvae developing in autumn/winter grew more slowly, but the fully grown larvae were then exposed to high spring (early summer) temperatures and soon pupated, the average time from first instar to adult being 273 days. The indications are that temperatures above 25°C quickly precondition mature larvae from Tolga for pupation, thus explaining the broad timing of adult emergence in the field in north Queensland. On different plants common near Tolga, larvae grew most quickly on peanuts and on the pasture legumes dolichos (Lablab purpureus) and stylosanthes (Stylosanthes guianensis). Survival on maize equalled that on peanuts (46.5% in sterilized soil) but growth was less. Larval survival and growth on the grass crowsfoot (Eleusine indica), and (surprisingly) on the pasture legume glycine (Neonotonia wightii) was very poor.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrewartha, H.G. (1933) The bionomics of Otiorrhynchus cribricollis Gyll. Bulletin of Entomological Research 24, 373384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrewartha, H.G. & Birch, L.C. (1954) The distribution and abundance of animals. 782 pp. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Anon. (1933) A South American weevil infesting lucerne in New South Wales. Review of Applied Entomology 21, 303.Google Scholar
Barnes, E.E. & Bass, M.H. (1972) Effect of certain temperatures on the lifecycle of the whitefringed beetle. Journal of Economic Entomology 65, 918919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bass, M.H. & Barnes, E.E. (1969) A laboratory rearing technique for the whitefringed beetle. Journal of Economic Entomology 62, 15121513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, G.N. (1981) The white fringed weevil. 2 pp. Agnote, Victoria, Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Bodenheimer, F.S. (1933) The progression factor in insect growth. Quarterly Review of Biology 8, 9296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boutwell, J.L. & Watson, D.L. (1978) Estimating and evaluating economic losses by whitefringed beetles on peanuts. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 24, 157159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Condrashoff, S.F. (1966) A description of the immature stages of Steremnius carinatus (Boheman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Canadian Entomologist 98, 663667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowson, R.A. (1981) The biology of the Coleoptera, 802 pp. London UK. Academic Press.Google Scholar
De Jeager, J., Lategan, K. & Van Der Westhuizen, M.C. (1989) Some aspects of the biology of the white-fringed beetle, Graphognathus leucoloma (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in the Lower Orange River Irrigation Area of South Africa. Phytophylactica 21, 259263.Google Scholar
East, R. (1976) The effects of pasture species on white-fringed weevil populations. Proceedings of the 29th New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Conference,165167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
East, R. (1982) Interactions between whitefringed weevil Graphognathus leucoloma and legume species in the northern North Island. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 25, 131140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
East, R. & King, P.D. (1977) Effects of botanical composition of pastures on insect pest populations. New Zealand Entomologist 6, 273278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
East, R. & Watson, R.N. (1978) Effects of whitefringed weevil in maize. Proceedings of 31st New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Conference,9295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elder, R.J., Brown, J.D. & Wicks, R. (1979) The biology and laboratory rearing of a new leptopine weevil, a pest of legumes in Queensland. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 18, 8189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emenegger, D.B. & Berry, R.E. (1978) Biology of strawberry root weevil on peppermint in western Oregon. Environmental Entomology 7, 495498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Given, B.B. (1973) Insect pests of maize. Proceedings of the 26th New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Conference,166172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grbic, V. (1964) A study on the life cycle and control of Otiorynchus lavandus Germ. Zaštita Bilja 15, 463564. (Abstract in English in Review of Applied Entomology 55, 1034.)Google Scholar
Gross, H.R., Shaw, Z.A., Mitchell, J.A. & Padgett, G.R. (1972) Crop damage by larvae of the whitefringed beetle as related to the time of larval introduction into the soil. Journal of Economic Entomology 65, 713716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, J.L. (1968) The balanced lattice as an experimental design for testing large numbers of plants for feeding preferences of whitefringed beetles. Journal of Economic Entomology 61, 132134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joshi, B.G. (1962) Laboratory studies on the biology of the tobacco ground beetle, Meromorphus villiger Blanch. Indian Journal of Entomology 24, 205210.Google Scholar
Kishi, Y. (1971) Reconsideration of the method to measure the larval instars by use of the frequency distribution of head capsule widths or lengths. Canadian Entomologist 103, 10111015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laughlin, R. (1960) Biology of Tipula oleracea L.: growth of the larva. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 3, 185197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ludwig, D. & Fiore, C. (1961) Effects of parental age on offspring from isolated pairs of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 54, 463465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthiessen, J.N. (1991) Population phenology of whitefringed weevil, Graphognathus leucoloma (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in pasture in a Mediterranean-climate region of Australia. Bulletin of Entomological Research 81, 283289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ottens, R.J. & Herzog, G.A. (1987) A greenhouse rearing technique for larvae of the whitefringed beetle, Graphognathus peregrinus (Buchanan) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Journal of Entomological Science 22, 352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, J.R. (1973) A turbulent overflow process for extracting weevil larvae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from large soil samples. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 12, 225229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, O.W. & Davies, R.G. (1960) A.D. Imms: a general textbook of entomology, 9th edn.886 pp. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Todd, D.H. (1964) Biology and control of whitefringed weevil. Proceedings of the 17th New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Conference,125129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigglesworth, V.B. (1965) The principles of insect physiology. 6th edn.741 pp. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Young, H.C. & App, B.A. (1939) Biology of the whitefringed weevil (Naupactus leucoloma Boh.). Bulletin. Bureau of Entomology. US Department of Agriculture E464, 22 pp.Google Scholar
Young, H.C., App, B.A.Gill, J.B. & Hollingsworth, H.S. (1950) Whitefringed beetles and how to combat them. USDA Circular 850, 15 pp.Google Scholar
Young, H.C., App, B.A., Green, G.D. & Dopson, R.N. (1938) The whitefringed beetle, Naupactus leucoloma Boh. Bulletin. Bureau of Entomology. US Department of Agriculture E420, 14 pp.Google Scholar