Morphometric variation of rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae L. in varietal food commodities
V. M. Yamini and G. Maheswari
Department of Zoology Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore-641043 (India) Mail Id: maheswari_zoo@avinuty.ac.in
ABSTRACT
An attempt was made in the laboratory to test the influence of selected cerealson the morphometric measurements of rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae. The four different cereals viz., Corn, Sorghum,Rice andWheat which belong to the family Poaeceae were selected for rearing rice weevil. The morphometric measurements of S. oryzae registered that the length of thorax, fore limb, mid limb, hind limb, wings and abdomen were higher in females than that of males. Among the cereals used for rearing rice weevil, the corn and Sorghum were found to be more susceptible to rice weevil infestation. The rice weevil emergence from wheat and rice were minimum in size in comparison with that of corn and Sorghum. The morphometric measurements of the rice weevil showed the higher infestation levels in corn and Sorghum. These two cereals need more attention during their storage since their high susceptibility to rice weevil infestation.