none Anthonomus grandis; PROTEINS-; Free amino acid & protein levels, larvae venomized by hymenopteran parasite; TOXINS-AND-VENOMS; Hymenopteran parasite venom effects on larval free amino acids & proteins; HYMENOPTERAN-PARASITES; Bracon mellitor; Free amino acid & protein levels in venomized host larvae Bracon mellitor; TOXINS-AND-VENOMS; Venom effects on coleopteran host larvae free amino acids & proteins; COLEOPTERAN-HOSTS; Anthonomus grandis; Venom effects on host larvae free amino acids & proteins Changes in the free amino acid levels of extracts from body whole homogenates of 3rd instar boll weevil Anthonomus grandis Boheman (Curculionidae) larvae which had been stung once by females of the ectoparasitoid Bracon mellitor Say (Braconidae) were determined. Stung larvae exhibited an initial rise in free amino acid levels within 6 min after the venom was injected followed by a decline within 2 h. A second free amino acid peak occurred 4 days after initial sting. Observed increases in free amino acid levels were always followed by synchronized decreases in total soluble proteins. The possible nutritional regulatory effect of ectoparasitoid venom on the physiology of the boll weevil is discussed.