DIETARY ALANINE AND PROLINE REQUIREMENTS OF BEETLE ORYZAEPHILUS SURINAMENSIS

The saw-toothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), was reared to the adult stage on chemically defined diets at 32± 2°C and 75 ± 5 per cent r.h. Dietary alanine and dietary proline were dispensable for survival and rate of development of this insect, when arginine was included at optimal concentration (9·0 mg/g) in the diet. When the latter was included at suboptimal concentration (5·5 mg/g), supplementation of the diet with alanine or proline, or both, accelerated the rate of development of O. surinamensis. With this concentration of arginine, the organism apparently used these amino acids for synthesis of sufficient arginine for normal growth. © 1968.