Fat Content and Reproductive Condition of Migrating and Dispausing Boll Weevils in South Carolina and Arizona

Overwintered female boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, collected in grandlure- baited traps were significantly leaner than weevils taken from winter habitat. Weevils that emerged from naturally infested cotton bolls tended to be fat as adults regardless of subsequent adult diet, but adult diet can affect gonadal development. Weevils that emerged from bolls in 1975 in South Carolina had a higher winter survival rate and emerged from winter habitat earlier than the total population. Migrant weevils appear to be mainly colonizers that have some body fat and medium size gonads. The physiological condition of migrants was fairly consistent over time and location in South Carolina but not in Arizona. The time of migratory flight was related mainly to plant maturity and population levels in South Carolina. Weevils collected from cotton plants in South Carolina and Arizona had significantly more body fat than weevils trapped at the cotton field but oogenesis was variable between the two locations