Behavior of Irradiated Boll Weevils. I. Feeding, Attraction, Mating, and Mortality123

The feeding activity, mating frequency, attraction, sexual response, and mortality of normal Anthonomus grandis Boheman were compared with boll weevils irradiated with 6388 or 12,775 rad of Co60 gamma radiation. The irradiated weevils equaled normal weevils in each aspect of behavior for at least 5 days posttreatment. However, by the 7th day posttreatment, all these activities had started to decline in the treated weevils and all irradiated weevils were dead by the end of the 2nd week. Thus, irradiated boll weevils may be effective in a program involving the release of sterile insects, but the releases would have to be made at least weekly and preferably every 5 days.