Mated 3-d-old female boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, reared from field-infested cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., squares were topically treated with the LD50 of malathion (2 ƒÝg) to assess its effects on fecundity, oviposition, and body fat condition. Two different food sources, cotton squares and artificial diet, were assessed in malathion-treated and nontreated (control) weevils. The LD50 caused „l50% mortality in the square-fed malathion treatment, but the artificial diet-fed malathion treated weevils were less susceptible. LD50 survivors fed squares produced „d9 times more chorionated eggs in the ovaries and oviposited „d19-fold more than survivors fed artificial diet regardless of the malathion treatment. Boll weevils that survived a 2 ƒÝg (LD50) and fed squares were „l4.5-fold leaner than diet-fed weevils. Our findings demonstrate that nonresistant boll weevils surviving a sublethal dose of malathion will reproduce without any delay or significant loss in fecundity, and the food source for which boll weevils are maintained when conducting these assays will directly affect the results. The significance of these findings and how they are related to the final stages of eradicating the boll weevil from the United States are discussed.