An Integrated Approach to Understanding Anthonomus eugenii Cano (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): An Exotic Pest of Greenhouse and Field Pepper Crops
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Anthonomus eugenii, the pepper weevil is an important pest of cultivated pepper plants (Capsicum spp.). The weevil is originally from Mexico, but it is present in Central America, the Caribbean, and southern United States. Additionally, it was present and eradicated in the Netherlands, Italy, and western Canada in British Columbia. However, sporadic outbreaks occur during the pepper growing season in southern Ontario, which has prompted further investigation of its biology and management. My dissertation investigates the genetics, physiology and ecology of the pepper weevil and its implications for prevention, management, and potential establishment in southern Ontario. I investigated pepper weevil host plant suitability in alternate host plants and the preference between cultivated pepper plants. I found that alternative host plants enhance pepper weevil fitness by decreasing development time, and although no support for preference among cultivars tested was found, pepper weevil development is compromised in high capsaicin-containing cultivars at early weevil life stages. I described the genetic diversity of the pepper weevil comparing populations from native and non-native ranges, and pathways of entrance into Canada. The results confirm the seasonal presence of the insect in southern Ontario as a consequence of pepper importation from regions where the pepper weevil is prominent. I compared cold-acclimated and non-acclimated pepper weevil populations and tested insect survival under winter outdoor conditions. The pepper weevil is a chill-susceptible species with a poor ability to tolerate sub-zero temperatures during temperate winters. However, recommendations are given for pepper weevil management in greenhouse environments, in which microclimatic temperatures do not decrease to below 0°C during winter. Ultimately, my research provides valuable new information on the physiology, ecology, and genetics of the pepper weevil that is relevant to managing this economically important insect pest in pepper producing areas worldwide.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".