Preference of adult alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal),(Coleoptera: Curculionidae), to different seedlings of upland crops

Occurrence of adult alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica Gyllenhal, was observed at Chinese milk vetch field, and host plant preference of its 1^st generation adult was observed at greenhouse and Chinese milk vetch field. The over-wintered adult of the weevil appeared from late March and peaked in mid April while the 1^st generation adult appeared from late April and peaked in late May. However, the occurrence of over-wintered adult was very low contrary to the 1^st generation adult which was very high with some variations among observed years. In greenhouse, host plant preference of 1^st adult generation of H. postica was evaluated with 11 different seedlings. H. postica was found to occur in significantly higher number on Chinese cabbage seedling followed by soybean, and kale at 7 days after releasing (DAR). Corn, crown daisy and sorghum were found to be the least preferred with nil occurrence of the weevil. Seedlings damage rate by H. postica feeding at 7DAR was the most severe on Chinese cabbage (60.0%) followed by soybean (50.0%), kale (30.0%), foxtail millet (16.7%), proso millet (13.3%) and lettuce (3.3%) significantly. Also, seedlings damage rate by H. postica at 7DAR in Chinese milk vetch field had shown the similar trend with Chinese cabbage (46.7%), soybean (43.3%), kale (23.3%), foxtail millet (13.3%) and proso millet (13.3%) in greenhouse significantly. Accordingly, results on host plant preference of H. postica from this study can be used as a basic information for safe cultivation of upland crops at near or around green manure crop field.