OVIPOSITION AND LARVAL ESTABLISHMENT OF SITODIPLOSIS MOSELLANA (DIPTERA: CECIDOMYIIDAE) ON WHEAT (GRAMINEAE) AT DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES

Abstract

AbstractThe wheat midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), infests wheat, Triticum aestivum L., heads only up to anthesis when pollination occurs. The termination of infestation might be due to a deterrence of oviposition or to a suppression of larval growth on developing seeds. These hypotheses were tested in the laboratory by measuring oviposition preference, larval development, and larval preference for plants at different growth stages. Females showed no preference for ovipositing on heads at any stage from the onset of heading up to and including anthesis, and continued to lay eggs at a reduced rate 10 days after anthesis. Survival of newly hatched larvae was reduced on seeds 3–1 days after anthesis and survival and development was greatly reduced on seeds 5 or 6 days after anthesis. Larvae moved away from older seeds and fed on younger seeds in a choice test. Given a hatching time of 5–6 days, a failure to infest wheat after anthesis is not due to oviposition deterrence at anthesis, but to suppression of larval growth and development which begins soon after anthesis.