Competition of three species of Sitophilus on rice and maize

Laboratory tests were carried out in order to examine competition among three congeneric species on rice and maize: the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius, the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae and the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais. For this purpose, a total of 30 adults were placed in vials that contained 50 g or either rice or maize: 30 adults of S. granarius, 30 adults of S. oryzae, 30 adults of S. zeamais, 15 adults of S. granarius+15 adults of S. oryzae, 15 adults of S. granarius+15 adults of S. zeamais, 15 adults of S. oryzae +15 adults of S. zeamais, and 10 adults of S. granarius+10 adults of S. oryzae+10 adults of S. zeamais. After 62 days at 30°C and 65% relative humidity the number of individuals of each species were counted. Insect damaged kernels (IDK), weight of frass and grain weight were measured. When each species was alone, S. granarius had the lowest numbers of adults in both grains, which did not exceed 34 adults/vial, and S. oryzae numbers were always higher than other species. For S. oryzae and S. zeamais, the numbers of adults were considerably higher on rice than on maize. On rice, S. oryzae numbers ranged between 281 and 563 adults per vial, while for S. zeamais between 137 and 372 adults per vial. At the same time, for both species on maize, adult numbers did not exceed 54 adults per vial. The number of S. oryzae adults were constantly higher than the other species in all combinations tested. Moreover, for rice, IDK in the vials that contained S. oryzae, either alone or in combination with other species, was higher than all the other combinations. Similarly, grain weight was lower in the vials that contained S. oryzae compared to the other species combinations. In general, for S. oryzae and S. zeamais progeny production was increased with the increase of the number of the initial adults that had been placed inside the vials. At the same time, progeny production of all three species was not affected by the presence of another species inside the vial. Given that the coexistence of congeneric species in the same stored product ecosystem is often reported, our results highlight some of the inferences that are necessary in order to predict the potential outcome of competition patterns. Apart from its ecological significance, the prediction of the superior species in mixed species communities, can guide and time any control measures, on a more species-targeted basis.