Behavioral and electrophysiological response of cabbage seed weevils (Ceutorhynchus assimilis) to conspecific odor

Abstract

The responses ofCeutorhynchus assimilis Payk. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) to the odor of overwintered and new generation weevils were studied using an olfactometer, choice tests in a laboratory cage, field tests using sticky traps baited with live weevils, and by electroantennograms (EAG's). Unmated male weevils and, to a lesser extent, female weevils of the overwintered generation were attracted to the odor of live unmated over-wintered female weevils. New generation weevils exhibited no behavioral response to conspecific odor. Male and female weevils of the overwintered generation exhibited positive EAGs to hexane extracts of overwintered female weevils, whereas EAGs of new-generation weevils of either sex were unresponsive to these extracts. This suggests that the unmated female weevils from the overwintered generation produce a volatile chemical or chemicals that attracts unmated male and female weevils. The new generation of female weevils does not produce this attractive chemical before overwintering, and male and female weevils of this generation can not detect the chemical(s) via their antennal chemoreceptors until they have undergone their overwintering period.