Investigations on Feeding Preferences of Adult Sitona Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Some Host Plants

In this study, we determined the feeding preferences of Sitona callosus Gyllenhal, 1834, S. cylindricollis F & aring;hraeus, 1840, S. humeralis Stephens, 1831, S. longulus Gyllenhal, 1834, S. macularius (Marsham, 1802), S. obsoletus (Gmelin, 1790), and S. puncticollis Stephens, 1831 species belonging to the genus Sitona (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) in alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.), black medick (M. lupina L.), white clover ( Trifolium repensL.), soybean ( Glycine max (L.), birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.), honey clover ( Melilotus albus Medik.), yellow sweet clover (M. officinalis (L.), sainfoin milk vetch ( Astragalus onobrychis L.), sainfoin ( Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.), and liquorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) (Fabaceae) plants at 25 degrees C +/- 5 degrees C in the laboratory. Plant preference experiments were established with 10 replications and as a result of analysis of variance (P>0.01), plant preference of each species was found to be significant. As a result, M. sativa and T. repens (100%) were the most preferred by Sitona species. Whereas L. corniculatus (91.43%), M. albus (87.14%), O. viciifolia (81.43%), M. lupina (78.57%), M. officinalis (60.00%), A. onobrychis (31.43%) followed, respectively. The least preferred species were G. glabra (7.14%) and G. max (1.43%).