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The potential for the use of herbarium specimens to determine the host plants of Ceutorhynchus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2015

David R. Gillespie*
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agassiz Research Centre, PO Box 1000, Agassiz, British Columbia, V0M 1A0, Canada
Beth I. Gillespie
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of the Fraser Valley, 33844 King Road, Abbotsford, British Columbia, V2S 7M8, Canada
*
1 Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected]).

Abstract

The host plants of native Ceutorhynchus Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) species are poorly known in North America, and knowledge of these is essential for biological control programmes involving this genus of weevils. We hypothesised that weevil larva emergence holes on plant specimens in herbarium collections might reveal potential plant-insect associations, and help locate populations of hosts for non-target testing. We examined 1114 plant specimens in 16 genera and 60 species of Brassicaceae and found 70 specimens among 30 species that showed evidence of feeding injury and exit holes typical of Ceutorhynchus. We used this information to locate populations of two species of Ceutorhynchus. Herbarium collections may be useful tools for developing knowledge of host plant associations for species of Ceutorhynchus.

Type
Techniques
Copyright
© Her Majesty the Queen by Right of Canada 2015 

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Patrice Bouchard

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