Eur. J. Entomol. 97 (1): 25-31, 2000 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2000.007
Activation of gonads and disruption of imaginal diapause in the apple blossom weevil, Anthonomus pomorum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), with juvenoids in laboratory and field trials
- Insect Chemical Ecology Unit, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Flemingovo nám. 2, CR-16610 Praha 6, Czech Republic; e-mail: zdarek@uochb.cas.cz
A possibility of using synthetic analogues of juvenile hormone (juvenoids) to disrupt imaginal diapause of the apple blossom weevil, Anthonomus pomorum females was demonstrated. Out of three preparations tested (methoprene, fenoxycarb and W-328) methoprene and fenoxycarb appeared to be effective. Sensitivity to juvenile hormone analogues develops early after imaginal emergence (even before the female starts to feed) and lasts throughout the whole aestivo-hibernation dormancy. Although the juvenoids could stimulate the onset of oogenesis at any time during diapause, the propensity of the ovaries to form normal eggs developed only during hibernation part of the dormancy; in earlier stages of diapause accumulation of yolk was observed but matured eggs were not produced. Methoprene treatment caused marked increase of locomotory activity accompanied with decrease of dry weight, increase of water content, depletion of trehalose resources, decrease of cold hardiness and, finally, 100% mortality within four weeks in the weevils treated during their feeding or aestivation stages. Although similar changes were observed in the treated pre-feeding weevils, they later recovered and survived until next spring without apparent loss of cold hardiness. A possibility of designing a control method based on this principle is discussed and the results of small-scale field trials that support its plausibility are reported.
Keywords: Ecophysiology, reproduction, diapause, aestivo-hibernation, juvenoids, Anthonomus pomorum, Curculionidae
Accepted: May 12, 1999; Published: April 15, 2000 Show citation
| ACS | AIP | APA | ASA | Harvard | Chicago | Chicago Notes | IEEE | ISO690 | MLA | NLM | Turabian | Vancouver |
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.