Potential Distribution of Wild Host Plants of the Boll Weevil ( Anthonomus   grandis ) in the United States and Mexico.

The boll weevil ( Anthonomus   grandis Boheman) reproduces on a reported 13 species of wild host plants in North America, two in the United States and 12 in Mexico. The distributions of these plants are of economic importance to pest management and provide insight into the evolutionary history and origin of the BW. However, detailed information regarding the distributions of many of these species is lacking. In this article, we present distribution models for all of the reported significant BW host plants from Mexico and the United States using spatial distribution modelling software. Host plant distributions were divided into two groups: "eastern" and "western." In Mexico, Hampea   nutricia along the Gulf Coast was the most important of the eastern group, and the wild cottons, Gossypium   aridum and Gossypium thurberi were most important in the western group. Other species of Hampea , Gossypium , and Cienfuegosia   rosei have relatively restricted distributions and are of apparent minimal economic importance. Cienfuegosia   drummondii is the only truly wild host in the southern United States, east of New Mexico. Factors determining potential distributions were variable and indicated that species were present in five vegetation types. Ecological and economic considerations of host plant distributions are discussed, as well as threats to host plant conservation.