Incidence of snout beetles Diaecoderus sppon planted fallow species and maize in agroforestry practices

The snout beetles, Diaecoderus spp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), are pests of maize and groundnuts in southern Africa. The larvae of snout beetles, commonly known as 'Fat John', damage the roots of maize seedlings. The Fat Johns are known to be problematic in central and southern provinces of Zambia where maize has been grown too frequently. In Eastern Zambia, the adults beetles were observed attcking agroforestry tree species such as Cajanus cajan, Crotalaria grahamiana, Gliridicia sepium, Sesbania sesban, and weeds such as Mucuna poggei and Acanthospermum spp. following this observation, we monitored the bettle population in agroforestry practices with the objective of determining their incidence on the various fallow species and subsequent maize crop. The adult beetles damaged the leaves and the silk of maize planted after the various fallow species. The damage done to the silk of maize cobs is likely to reduce seed setting. The effect of fertility status of the various fallows on the incidence of snout betles is analyzed and the implications of scaling-up of some agroforestry species on the development of pest status of snout beetles is discussed.

---

• View source