Behavior of artificial rearing of red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.

The mating and oviposition behavior of red palm weevil,Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Fab. was observed in laboratory. Mating behavior may be observed in the whole day,but a peak of mating occurred in the half hour of the beginning of the dark period. Moreover,mating duration and probability were not influenced by body size. Without external interference,mating duration may be more than 1 minute. After the copulation,females bored a hole,and laid one egg each hole. In addition,larval and pupal behaviors were also studied,such as feeding,fighting,exuviating and cocooning. With the development from young to old larvae,the feeding and drilling were from centre to periphery of palms. Through the behavior of red palm weevil in shaking of cocoon and combination with observation of the color and texture of the cocoon,the three stages of cocoon could be distinguished.