Overwintering Survival of Prereproductive and Postreproductive Boll Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Central Texas

Field studies were conducted in central Texas in 1988 and 1989 to determine the effect of oviposition on overwintering survival of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman. Weevils were reared from infested cotton bolls in field cages. At eclosion, adults were paired with mates and provided artificial diet for 36 d before they were installed in overwintering cages without food. The earliest oviposition occurred between 6 and 10 d after eclosion; increasing numbers of females began to oviposit thereafter. Females that laid any eggs at all during the 36-d feeding period died within 7 wk in the absence of food. Females that never laid eggs during the feeding period had high survival until the following spring. Overwintering survival of males was unrelated to their mate's fecundity. Our results suggest that even limited reproductive output by females imposes a substantial cost to subsequent overwintering survival in this central Texas population.