COMPETITION BETWEEN TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM (Herbst) AND TRIBOLIUM CONFUSUM (J. du Val.) IN LIMITED AMOUNT OF STANDARD MEDIUM AND MAIZE MEAL

摘要

Competition between Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Tribolium confusum (J. du Val.) was studied in limited amount of standard medium (maize meal-sorghum meal-glycerol) (8:8:1) (w/w) and maize meal; when the two species were reared separately (conditions Teas and Tcon), when one was introduced before the other (conditions Teas + Tcon/2 and Tcon + Tcas/2) and when both were introduced together (condition Tcas/Tcon) under ambient laboratory conditions (temperature range: 24-28°C, 61-77% R.H.). Separately, both T. castaneum and T. confusum thrived well in limited supplies of the food media. T. castaneum was a better competitor than T. confusum when the two species existed together at the same time. However when one was introduced before the other, thefirst introduced species appeared to do better than the second species.