Tokita, Norio and Nakiri, Sachie and Dewi, Bainah Sari and Tokita, Teruaki
(2015)
Nutritional characteristics of Konara (Quercus serrata) acorns and their parasitic weevil larva (Curculio dentipes) and its palatability to Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus) as a food source in autumn.
Asian Journal of Plant Science and Research, 2015, 5(7):1-5, 5 (7).
pp. 1-5.
Abstract
We investigated the chemical components and energy content of Konara (Quercus serrata) acorns and their
parasitic larval insect(Curculio dentipes). We then fed acorns to Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus)in
captivity and monitored their eating behavior to evaluate the palatability of acorn cotyledons, parasitic larvae, and
larval feces. We purchased 70kg of fresh acornsof Q. serrate and randomly selected 2512 of them and found that
17.7% of seeds were attacked by weevil larvae. The contents of protein and fat in the larval body were 28.6% and
53.7%, respectively. The gross energy of the larval body was 29.6kJ/DM g and the energy value was 1.8 times
higher than that of acorn embryos. Our results suggest that the consumption of larvae parasitizing the acorns of Q.
serrate contributes to the acquisition of animal protein and energy under incidental predation by large postdispersal
acorn consumers, such as deer or wild boar. In addition, in our feeding experiment, bears discarded a
corns filled with larval feces but showed much interest in living larvae and quickly consumed them finding them.
This eating behavior shows that weevil larvae are highly palatable to bears, which may acquire animal protein and
energy from them.
Key words: Acorn, Cotyledons, Protein, Quercus serrata, Ursus thibetanus, Weevil
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Nutritional characteristics of Konara (Quercus serrata) acorns and their parasitic weevil larva (Curculio dentipes) and its palatability to Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus) as a food source in autumn. (deposited 27 Dec 2016 09:17)
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