EFFECT OF DIETARY SERINE ON SURVIVAL AND RATE OF DEVELOPMENT OF ORYZAEPHILUS SURINAMENSIS (COLEOPTERA - SILVANIDAE)

Newly hatched Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) were reared on a chemically-defined diet at 32 ± 2 °C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity. Addition of serine to the diet containing glycine was not beneficial to the insect and became harmful at a concentration greater than 10.0 mg/g. Serine was able to replace glycine almost completely in the glycine-free diet for this insect. The results suggest that glycine, but not alanine or threonine, is the precursor for serine biosynthesis in O. surinamensis. They also suggest that serine and glycine are not completely interconvertible by this organism. © 1969, Entomological Society of Canada. All rights reserved.