Development and Life History ofSitophilus zeamais(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on Cereal Crops

Adebayo Amos Omoloye,James Adebayo Ojo

doi:10.1155/2016/7836379

Adebayo Amos Omoloye, James Adebayo Ojo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/7836379

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Abstract

The maize weevil,Sitophilus zeamaisMotschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most destructive pests of stored cereals. Knowledge of the life history and biology is important to the development of an integrated pest management program. Investigation was carried out on developmental biology ofS. zeamaison four main cereal crops, maize, rice, sorghum, and millet, under laboratory conditions. Egg incubation, oviposition periods, and larval instar development were not different significantly among the food hosts. Number of eggs laid varied significantly among the cereal grains; mean fecundity was highest on maize (67.2±3.16) and lowest on millet (53.8±0.17). Number of immature (larva and pupa) and adult stages varied significantly among the cereal grains. There exist four larval instars with a varied mean head capsule width, with a mean total instar larval developmental period of 23.1, 22.2, 22.2, and 21.6 d on maize, rice, sorghum, and millet, respectively. There was linear relationship and significant correlation between the stages of larval development and head capsule width. The mean developmental period from egg to adult varied, being highest on maize (34.7 d) and lowest on sorghum (33.5 d).

Highlights

The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most destructive stored product pests of grains, cereals, and other processed and unprocessed stored products in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3,4]
The egg incubation period of five days observed among food hosts was similar to what was obtained in other related coleopterans, three to four days for S. rugicollis [21] and five days for S. oryzae when it was cultured on maize grains [22], whereas it was three days for S. linearis cultured on tamarind [17] and four days for Conotrachelus psidii [23]
There was variation in mean egg laid by mated female S. zeamais in relation to food hosts with more eggs laid on maize over a period of almost 22 days

Summary

Introduction

The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most destructive stored product pests of grains, cereals, and other processed and unprocessed stored products in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3,4]. S. zeamais causes qualitative and quantitative damage to stored products, with grain weight loss ranging between 20 to 90% for untreated stored maize [5,6,7], and the severity of damage depends on factors which include storage structures and physical and chemical properties of the produce. This study seeks to investigate the developmental biology of S. zeamais under laboratory conditions on four main stored cereals in other to elucidate some important aspects of its life history

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