Dry season dormancy of Anthonomus rufipennis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in a seasonally dry tropical forest

The life history aspects related to dormancy of the weevil, Anthonomus rufipennis LeConte(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was studied over a 53 month period during both the dry and rainy seasons in a dry tropical forest of central Mexico. During the dry season, a highly favored refuge host plant was ball moss, Tillandsia recurvata L. (Bromeliaceae). Sizable populations of the weevil were found within individuals of ball mosswith a mean density of 1.014 + 2.532 (N=2,865 plants), although considerable variations were found among seasons and years. Survival of the weevil on its refuge host during the dry season was apparently high, as weevil densities between early and late dry seasons were not significantly different, with the exception of 2021. Weevils extracted from T. recurvata were relatively active and occasionally flew. Behavior of male and female weevils were different as related to the termination of dormancy which ocurred when weevils moved from Tillansia recurvata onto Senna polyantha when trees initiated vegetative and reproductive growth.  Movement by weevils onto ball moss, and their apparent entrance into dormancy, was gradual with a portion of weevils found on ball moss during the late rainy season while others remained on the reproductive host trees. This behavior with the evidence that A. rufipennis has multiple generations during most years indicates that the weevil is facultatively multivoltine and can be considered to have a reproductive diapause.