OVIPOSITIONAL PREFERENCES OF DIAPREPES-ABBREVIATUS (COLEOPTERA, CURCULIONIDAE)

Female Diaprepes abbreviatus L. were presented with immature citrus le aves, mature citrus leaves, and doubled strips of various substances a s potential oviposition sites. In both the laboratory and in caged out door experiments more egg masses were deposited between freezer paper strips than between mature leaves. No egg masses were deposited betwee n immature leaves. Artificial substrates were preferred in the followi ng order: freezer paper > waxed paper > transparency film. In emergenc e experiments utilizing freezer paper with the plastic-coated side out as the oviposition substrate, no neonate larvae escaped from 65% of t he egg masses. In contrast, larvae easily escaped from egg masses laid between strips of the other substrates tested. In the field, wax pape r and freezer paper were preferred as oviposition sites 43:1 and 50:1 over mature leaf pairs, respectively. These data suggest a new prototy pe monitoring trap for this weevil.