Areas cultivated with perennial forage leguminous are growing, both globally and in our country; this is due primarily to the increased requirements for feeding animals. The Apionidae weevils are insects of major importance in the perennial forage leguminous crops for seed productions, this due to the fact that production losses that can be between 50 – 80% of the amount of seed. In our country, have been identified a several species of Apionidae, without knowing their exact number, because studies have not been undertaken of such complex quantification insects. In this paper are presented the data in an Apionidae study on pest populations collected from Trifolium repens and Lotus corniculatus crops at Didactical Station from Timisoara, throughout the year 2011. The insects were collected with the help of an entomological net, on a plot were made 25 double cuts for each repetition. The material cropping made once at 7-10 days in function of the weathers conditions, samples cropped in dry time, without precipitations, in the morning around 9-11, when the weevils were the most active. The analysis of the 722 specimens showed presence of 14 species, from 3 tribes: Apionini, Piezotrachelini and Oxystomatini; 5 subtribes: Apionina, Piezotrachelina, Catapiina, Oxystomatina, Synapiina and 8 genuses: Apion, Protapion, Catapion, Cyanapion, Eutrichapion, Oxystoma, Ischnopterapion and Stenopterapion. By analyzing the composition of species based on material found in both crops, the most common species are Apion aestivum, Apion apricans, Apion columbinum. In comparison with the first results obtained by Pălăgeşiu (1980) from the same areas, the Apionidae fauna is quantitatively richer. The results point out the necessity to continue the study of Apionidae fauna on Didactical Station from Timisoara, particularly from ecological view, through a comparative analysis of the influence of climatological factors on these insects’ populations from a much longer period of time.

Apionidae, populations, forage leguminous, seed production

Presentation: oral