294 



for mass-rearing purposes. There would be little point in keeping the strain 

 and dying it red since the purpose of genetic markers is to avoid mechanical 

 marking. Hcvever, the improved response when dye was incorporated in the area 

 of the eye did indicate that the poor performance of the strain results from 

 the gene for pearl eye and from the gene for ebony body color. 



564. ; Cross, W. H.; Leggett, J. E.; McKibben, G. H.; Johnson, W. L.; 



McCoy, J. R.; and Haynes, J. W. 1976. Boll weevils: field competitive- 

 ness among several laboratory strains, chemosterllized weevils, and field 

 weevils. Environ. Entomol. 5: 354-356. 

 Male boll weevils, Arthonomu s grand is Boheman, reared in the laboratory and steri- 

 lized with busulfan (1, 4-butanediol dimethan-sulfonate) alone were more attrac- 

 tive to 9 weevils than those treated with combinations of busulfan and hempa. 

 In general, sterilization reduced the attractiveness of laboratory-reared males 

 by ca. 50%. Evidence is presented that shows a great range of variability in 

 the attractiveness of males of 1 type. These sterilized cJ boll weevils are as 

 attractive to 9 weevils as overwintered field males. 



565. ; Cross, W. H.; Leggett, J. E.; and Mitlin, N. 1973. Boll weevils: 



a technique for measuring the production of«^pheroraone and the competi- 



32 

 fcivertess-of P tagged adults in the field. J. Econ. Entomol. 66: 809. 



The sterile-male technique, is an integral part of many insect-eradication 



programs, and it is considered by most scientists to be the key factor in 



the eradication program currently in progress against the boll weevil, 



Anthonomus grandis Boheman. Therefore, in anticipation of this portion of 



the program, a reliable method was needed to compare the production of 



pheromone and the sexual competitiveness of sterile and native weevils in 



the field. In our search for such a method, we used the technique for 



marking overwintering boll weevils with ^^Zn. However, our tests were to 



-.f..- -A 



