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Does natal habitat preference modulate cereal kernel preferences in the rice weevil?

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Abstract

The influence of larval diet source in Sitophilus oryzae (L.), a primary grain feeder, on the choice of a new cereal host by young adult was investigated through a multiple choice comparative bioassay. For this purpose, virgin male and female adults, which had been reared as immatures in different grain commodities, were monitored according to their food preference in cylindrical arenas containing whole kernels of maize, rice, barley and wheat. The adults showed a clear individual preference for maize kernels, regardless of the previous food experience, sex and also the interval on which the adults are exposed to food. Males were much more mobile than females and visited more vigorously different commodities before the final choice. Female response was found to be related with male response to specific food sources. Hence, our results indicate that there was no natal habitat preference induction, since maize was, in most cases, the final commodity choice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, via de Sanctis, 86100, Campobasso, Italy

    Pasquale Trematerra

  2. Department of Economics, Management, Society, and Institutions, University of Molise, via de Sanctis, 86100, Campobasso, Italy

    Claudio Lupi

  3. Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Phytokou Str., Nea Ionia, 38446, Magnissia, Greece

    Christos Athanassiou

Authors
  1. Pasquale Trematerra
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  2. Claudio Lupi
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  3. Christos Athanassiou
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Correspondence to Pasquale Trematerra.

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Handling Editors: Yvan Rahbe and Heikki Hokkanen.

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Trematerra, P., Lupi, C. & Athanassiou, C. Does natal habitat preference modulate cereal kernel preferences in the rice weevil?. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 7, 287–297 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-012-9243-y

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