Higher classification Dryophthorinae Rank Genus | Scientific name Sitophilus Order Beetle | |
 | ||
Lower classifications Maize weevil, Rice weevil, Wheat weevil | ||
Rice weevil sitophilus oryzae
Sitophilus is a genus of weevils. Some species are familiar as pests of stored food products. Notable species include the rice weevil (S. oryzae), wheat weevil (S. granarius), and maize weevil (S. zeamais).
Contents
Distribution
The rice and maize weevils have a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, occurring throughout the warmer parts of the world. In Europe they are replaced by the temperate Palaearctic wheat weevil.
Biology
The adult female weevil bores a hole in a grain, nut, or seed, and deposits an egg, usually one egg per individual grain. She seals the hole with a secretion. The larva develops while feeding on the interior of the grain, and then pupates. It usually leaves the grain completely hollow when it exits as an adult. The wheat weevil can live on acorns, and may have used them as a host before agriculture made grain plentiful. The rice weevil can live on beans, nuts, grains, and some types of fruit, such as grapes. Several other Sitophilus use the acorns of oaks such as bluejack oak (Quercus incana) and moru oak (Q. floribunda). Some use the seeds of trees in the Dipterocarpaceae and the legume family, Fabaceae. The tamarind weevil (S. linearis) is only known from the seeds of tamarind.
Several Sitophilus species are hosts to an intracellular γ-Proteobacterium. Weevil and bacterium have a symbiotic relationship in which the bacterium produces nutrients such as amino acids and vitamins for the host, supplementing its cereal diet.
Diversity
As of 1993, there are about 14 species of Sitophilus.
Species include:
Fossil taxa include:
