Page 46 - Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2008
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C. Souliotis
44
long time. Adults that emerged from the
cage during the last ten days of June were
found to be still alive up to the first ten
days of September. In field crops, the first
larvae can be found under the bark of the
trunk and branches about onemonth after
appearance of the adults. The larvae start
boring galleries between the bark and the
wood and rarely between the wood and
the pith. No larvae were observed in dead
plants. Many larvae may be found at the
same time in attacked plants, but galleries
seldom cross each other.
Over summer, autumn and winter the
larvae feed and grow till they pupate the
next spring after having prepared a cavity
a little wider than the gallery for the adult
to emerge.
Damage:
Attacked plants have short, rath-
er thin and weak shoots, carrying small,
chlorotic leaves and a reduced number
of flower-buds, while the plant in gener-
al looks weakish and scrubby. They recov-
er slowly unless there are annular galler-
ies on the main stem. In the latter case the
plant dies off in a short time.
Based on observations on the organ-
ic caper crop in Ios, the
A. barbarus
seems
to be the main cause for a poor growth of
the plants, a decline in production and a
general weakness of the cultured and wild
plants in the area.
This species, therefore, may, under
Greek conditions, cause severe damage
in caper. Very limited data is available on
the biology of the pest and its control, ex-
clusively from international sources. It is
worthy, therefore, to undertake a system-
atic study of the biology and ethology of
the insect. A recording of its natural ene-
mies and their activity in the area may as-
sist in developing a method for its control,
as there is no appropriate insecticide au-
thorized for use on caper.
Literature Cited
Brisout, De Barneville
1.
1864
. Monographie
des espèces européennes et algériennes du
genre
Acalles
suivie de la description abré-
gée des espèces propres à l’ île de Madère d’
après Wollaston.
Annls, Soc, ent. Fr., IV serie
,
IV:
441-442.
Caillol, H.
2.
1954
. Catalogue des Coléoptères
de Provence.
IV parties
– Edit. Mus. N. H. Nat.,
1, 234. Paris.
Hoffmann, A.
3.
1958
. Coléoptères Curculioni-
des,
III partie. Faune de France
, 62. – Lechev.
Edit. Paris.
Hustache, A.
4.
1931
. Curculionides Gallo-ro-
mans .
Annls Soc. Ent. Fr.
( c )
:
201.
Kocher, L.
5.
1961
. Catalogue commente des
coléoptères du Maroc.
Fasc.
IX:
191.
Liotta, G.
6.
1977
.
Acalles barbaricus
L. (s.l.), su
Capparis spinosa
L. a Pantelleria (Col. Curcu-
lionidae).
Il Naturalista Siciliano, S. IV,
I(1-4):
39-45.
Lucas, H.
7.
1849
.
Expl. Scient. Alg
.,
II:
453.
Magnano, L. and Osella, G.
8.
1972
. La curcu-
Fig. 3.
Feeding galleries of the larvae on a caper shoot (cross
section).
Fig. 4.
The head of a larva in a gallery.
