Cumulative Satiation of a Seed Predator over the Fruiting Season of Its Host

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Abstract
Late seed crops of the palm, Scheelea zomensis, escape predation by the bruchid beetle, Caryobruchus giganteus, in tropical moist forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The beetle oviposits on the endocarp of the palm, and larval development takes place within the seed which is invariably killed. The intensity of oviposition is relatively high early and during the peak of the fruiting season and declines to zero while 20% of the palms are still ripening fruit. The life history of C. giganteus may contribute to the escape of late seed crops. Larval development takes longer than the fruiting season of the palm. As a result, there is just one generation of adult beetles each year, and their numbers are greatest at the beginning of the fruiting season of the host.

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