Oviposition Behavior of Two Rhynchitid Weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea

Abstract

The oviposition behaviors and breeding habits of two rhynchitid weevil species, Involvulus apertus and /. singularis are described and illustrated. The larval morphology of the latter species is also illustrated. Shrub species Symplocos coreana is the common host plant, the young leaves of which are utilized by the two weevils in different ways. The female of I. apertus lays eggs in the leaf midrib without cutting. Its larvae bore into the midrib and stem of the leaf. In the case of I. singularis, the female cuts the stem before and after oviposition. Its larva makes a mine on the leaf. The leaf-mining larva is recorded for the first time in the subtribe Rhynchitina.