Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Center for Invasive Species Research, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
J Insect Sci. 2024 Sep 1;24(5). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/ieae099.
Heilipus lauri is a specialist avocado seed feeding weevil native to parts of México and is an invasive pest in Colombia. This weevil is considered an incursion risk because possible unintended introductions into areas outside of its native range can result in establishment, which threatens avocado production in invaded regions. Despite being a well-recognized pest of avocados, relatively little is known about oviposition biology, behavior, and cultivar preferences of this weevil. Field studies in commercial Hass avocado orchards in México and laboratory studies in a quarantine facility in California (USA) indicated that H. lauri prefers to oviposit into middle and bottom thirds of fruit. In the laboratory, an average of 1.7 eggs (range 1-6 eggs) are laid over a 24-h period in oviposition chambers by individual females. Conspecifics add eggs to these clutches, with up to 17 eggs being recorded in 1 oviposition chamber. This finding suggests that H. lauri does not use an oviposition deterring pheromone. Female weevils readily oviposit in artificial holes representing mechanical wounds on fruit. In comparison to the commercially dominant Hass variety, fruit from Lamb Hass and G22, a native Guatemalan variety, and to a lesser extent Gem, may be less preferred for oviposition when females have a choice of fruit in which to oviposit. Videography studies indicated that H. lauri exhibits predominantly diurnal activity with respect to oviposition behaviors, feeding, and walking.
Lauri 叶象鼻虫是一种原产于墨西哥部分地区的鳄梨种子专食象鼻虫，也是哥伦比亚的入侵害虫。这种象鼻虫被认为是一种入侵风险，因为其可能在无意中引入其原生范围之外的地区，可能会导致其建立种群，从而威胁到入侵地区的鳄梨生产。尽管它是鳄梨的一种公认害虫，但对这种象鼻虫的产卵生物学、行为和品种偏好知之甚少。在墨西哥商业哈斯鳄梨园的实地研究和加利福尼亚（美国）检疫设施的实验室研究表明，H. lauri 更喜欢在果实的中下部产卵。在实验室中，单个雌性在产卵室中平均在 24 小时内产下 1.7 个卵（范围为 1-6 个卵）。同种个体在这些卵堆中添加卵，在一个产卵室中最多记录到 17 个卵。这一发现表明，H. lauri 不使用产卵驱避信息素。雌性象鼻虫很容易在代表果实机械伤口的人工孔中产卵。与商业上占主导地位的哈斯品种相比，Lamb Hass 和 G22（一种原产于危地马拉的品种）的果实，以及在较小程度上 Gem 的果实，当雌性有选择产卵的果实时，可能不太适合产卵。录像研究表明，H. lauri 在产卵行为、进食和行走方面表现出主要的昼间活动。
