Adult emergence and egg production of the black vine weevil in Canterbury

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Abstract
Adult emergence of black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.), from strawbenies (cv. ‘Tioga’) at Lincoln College, Canterbury occurred predominantly within a 15-day period in 1974. Most adults emerged between 23 October and 7 November. No adults were observed to overwinter. Egg production was recorded for adults held in the laboratory and fed diets of white clover, strawberry, or blackcurrant foliage. Egg production from the berryfruit-fed adults was significantly greater than that from clover-fed adults. Oviposition continued with all diets for more than 28 weeks, recordings being terminated at that point because of lack of foliage for feeding. Some adults survived for over a year. Oviposition records showed a cyclic pattern, mean number of egg-laying days per cycle being 51.1 and 49.2 for strawberry and blackcurrant respectively, and 12.2 for clover. The number of days between cycles was not significantly different between diets.