Arcelin is a seed protein found in wild beans which gives resistance to the Mexican bean weevil, Zabrotes subfasciatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). The contribution of four alleles of the protein arcelin (Arc1, Arc2, Arc3 and Arc4), present in four near isogenic lines was evaluated for the control of Z. subfasciatus, at intervals between 15 and 150 days of storage, at 15 days intervals, using the susceptible cultivars Porrillo 70 and Goiano Precoce as control. At intervals between 90 - 150 days and 60 - 150 days of storage, the lines containing Arc1 and Arc2 had, respectively, less eggs and adults than those containing Arc3 and the susceptible cultivars. Com relação a Arc4, constataram-se menor número de ovos e adultos em Arc1 e Arc2, aos 90 dias e a partir dos 135 dias. As a result of the low adult emergence in Arc1 and Arc2, at the end of the storage period, highly significant differences were observed in the percentage of damaged seeds by the weevil among the lines containing Arc1 (0%), Arc2 (8.0%), the susceptible cultivars Porrillo 70 (73.7%) and Goiano Precoce (99.3%) and the lines containing Arc3 (86.3%) and Arc4 (48%). The percentage of plant emergence imediately before and at 150 days of storage varied, respectively, from 95.7% to 92.0% in Arc1, from 96.3% to 84.3% in Arc2, from 97.0% to 30.0% in Arc3, from 95.3% to 83.0% in Arc4, from 97.3% to 41.3% in 'Porrillo 70', and from 95.7% to 6.7% in 'Goiano Precoce'.
Insecta; host plant resistance; insect biology; Mexican bean weevil; storage
