Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera) Associated With Peanuts in Southern Queensland

Rogers, David J.; Brier, Hugh; Houston, K. J.

doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.1992.tb00477.x

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…is undescribed although Murray and Wicks (1984) gave it the common name of "black sunflower scarab". I t is morphologically distinct from P. basicollis Lea, a pest of peanuts and other crops on the Darling Downs of Queensland (Rogers et a/. 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Biology of Pseudoheteronyx sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on the Central Highlands of Queensland

Robertson¹,

Kettle²

1994

Australian Journal of Entomology

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The life cycle, development rates, fecundity and survivorship of Pseudohereronyx sp. were studied in the laboratory and field. Adults fed on leaves of Asteraceae (sunflower and furthenium hysterophorus L., an inrroduced weed). Larvae in the soil fed on cereal roots and on crop residues but developed faster on living wheat roots compared to wheat stubble. The shortest development time for larvae was 8 months under laboratory conditions. Teneral adults appeared in the field at the start of the summer wet beason (usually December). Sex ratio was 1 : l . Size could not be used to separate the sexes, which were morphologically similar. Adults began laying eggs about 8 weeks after adult emergence. Under moist soil conditions in the laboratory, adults laid eggs for 1 year except during 4-6 weeks in winter when mean monthly temperature dropped below 20°C. When confined in groups of up to 20 adults, fseudoheleronyxsp. laid an average 18.5 eggs per female when fed sunflower leaves, and 3.0 eggs per female when fed leaves of farrheniurn. Individually confined females fed sunflower leaves laid 10-5 1 eggs during their life. Natural enemies recorded in the field included fungal pathogens (Meturhizirrrn, Beauveria, Hirsutellu and Cordyceps spp.) and milky disease (Bacillus popilliue).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Biology of Pseudoheteronyx sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on the Central Highlands of Queensland

Robertson¹,

Kettle²

1994

Australian Journal of Entomology

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“…In the present study, the effect of soil moisture is examined on the oviposition behaviour of four melolonthine scarabs and the rainfall reliability is quantified in the endemic environments of each species, before interpreting the results in the context of the ‘mother knows best’ hypothesis. Three of the species ( D. albohirtum , H. serrata and H. reynaudi ) are from the semiarid tropics (Allsopp et al ., 1993; Anitha et al ., 2005, 2006) whereas the fourth species (Heteronyx piceus Blanchard) is endemic to temperate and subtropical environments (Rogers et al ., 1992; Britton, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oviposition response of scarabaeids: does ‘mother knows best’ about rainfall variability and soil moisture?

Ward¹,

Rogers²

2007

Physiological Entomology

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The effect of soil moisture on ovipositional preference is studied for four melolonthine scarabaeids, Holotrichia reynaudi , Holotrichia serrata and Dermolepida albohirtum , which are endemic to the semiarid tropics of India ( Holotrichia spp.) and Australia, and Heteronyx piceus , which is endemic to the temperate and subtropical regions of Australia. As predicted by the preferenceperformance hypothesis, the three tropically adapted species show little or no ovipositional preference for soil moistures between permanent wilting point ( -1500 kPa) and field capacity ( -10 kPa) under either choice or no-choice conditions in their endemic soils, whereas H. piceus shows a clear preference to oviposit in drier soils ( -1500 to -200 kPa). The ovipositional soil-moisture preferences of D. albohirtum and H. serrata are much narrower in geographically adjacent non-endemic soils (between -1500 to -200 kPa) than in their endemic soils. An analysis of daily rainfall determined the rainfall variability within the endemic areas of each species. The semiarid tropics are highly variable, with rainfall at the time of oviposition being a poor predictor of the future rain required for successful larval development, whereas the rainfall in the subtropics is much more reliable. The absence of a clearly preferred soil moisture for oviposition in the tropically adapted species appears to be a life-history strategy that allows these species to live in environments where rainfall is highly variable, and soil moisture at time of oviposition is a poor predictor of future environmental suitability for plant growth, and thus larval survival.

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“…In the present experiment we assessed mechanisms to optimise the establishment of Heteronyx piceus Blanchard larvae in pots containing peanut plants. Heteronyx piceus is commonly found in association with peanuts in the South Burnett region around Kingaroy in Queensland (Rogers et al 1992). Populations in excess of five larvae per m 2 are common but numbers may reach more than 30 larvae per m 2 under some circumstances, leading to peanut yield reductions of up to 30% (Rogers & Brier 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimising mortality in field and pot experiments using Heteronyx piceus Blanchard (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) eggs and larvae

Ward¹,

Rogers

2001

Australian Journal of Entomology

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The establishment of experimental populations of scarab larvae using eggs and early instar larvae has proven to be difficult for many researchers. Despite this, little work has been published examining ways to optimise establishment under artificial conditions. In this experiment, we examined the effect of shade and irrigation on the establishment of Heteronyx piceus Blanchard larvae introduced into pots as eggs and first-, second-and third-instar larvae to optimise artificial infestation techniques. The most important factor affecting larval establishment was the life stage introduced. Establishment of eggs and first instars was very low, with only 21% of eggs and 11% of first-instar larvae establishing. In contrast, 82% of second-instar larvae and 84% of third-instar larvae established successfully. The addition of shade marginally improved overall survival from 45% in the unshaded pots to 53% in the shaded pots. However, most of this increase was in the eggs and first instars. Irrigation did not improve survival. These results suggest that when introducing scarab larvae to field or pot experiments, second-or thirdinstar larvae should be used to maximise establishment. The provision of shade and supplementary irrigation is optional.

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Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera) Associated With Peanuts in Southern Queensland

Cited by 8 publications

References 2 publications

Biology of Pseudoheteronyx sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on the Central Highlands of Queensland

Biology of Pseudoheteronyx sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on the Central Highlands of Queensland

Oviposition response of scarabaeids: does ‘mother knows best’ about rainfall variability and soil moisture?

Minimising mortality in field and pot experiments using Heteronyx piceus Blanchard (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) eggs and larvae

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