title: Feeding and oviposition preferences of sweet potato weevil,Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summers), on storage roots of sweet potato cultivars with differing surface chemistries.
abstract: Cores from sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] storage roots (Centennial, Jewel, Resisto, and Regal cultivars) were presented to sweet potato weevils [Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summers) (Coleoptera; Curculionidae)] in multiple-choice, limited-choice, and no-choice bioassays. Centennial, a susceptible cultivar in field-plot experiments, was preferred for feeding and oviposition by female weevils in choice bioassays, and for ovi-position in no-choice bioassays, compared to three other cultivars. Analysis of root surface chemistry showed a tentatively identified triterpenol acetate in Centennial, which was not found in the more resistant cultivars; another root surface component was found in higher concentrations in the more resistant cultivars.
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, Georgia.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Nottingham
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Severson
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kays