Evaluation of the development and energetic reserves of Rhynchophorus palmarum (Coleoptera:Curculionidae) larvae on different diets

Abstract

The cultivation of palm trees is of great importance, since it is part of the productive agricultural ecosystem, providing products such as oil, fats, minerals, essential vitamins and fresh fruit for generating income for the population. The Rhynchophorus palmarum is one of the important crop pests and vector nematode Bursaphelenchus cocophilus, causal agent of Red Ring. There are no efficient and ecologically viable methods that can significantly reduce the damage and the great difficulty in capturing larvae in the field leads to the need of rearing larvae in laboratory for performing bioassays. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of artificial diet on the development of larvae of R. palmarum, assessing mortality, weight and differences in the accumulation of lipids and carbohydrates compared to natural diet. The results showed that in artificial diet the mortality rate is lower than the natural diet, with rapid and pronounced weight gain, reflected in the variation of energy reserves in adipocytes. The rearing of larvae in artificial diet showed significant physiological parameters and viability for use in the development of bioassays, which may help in future studies of control of this insect.