Rusty Grain Beetle (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) Oviposition in Cracked and Whole Corn²

Number of eggs laid by individual female rusty grain beetles, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), during a 72-h period was determined on cracked and whole corn at 75% RH and 30°C. More eggs were laid on finely cracked corn (11.2 eggs/female/72 h) = medium cracked corn (9.6) > coarsely cracked corn (3.9) > whole, slit kernels (1.2) = whole, undamaged kernels (0.4). The results indicate that the greater number of progeny produced on cracked corn, as compared to whole corn, reported in an earlier study must have been, at least partly, due to the greater number of eggs laid on cracked corn.