Effect of certain host plants on food consumption and utilization of cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

plant protection department- faculty of agriculture in Cairo - alazhar university

Abstract

The aim of the present studies to evaluate the digestibility indices of
S. littoralis on certain host plants under laboratory conditions.
The data on digestibility indices of S. littoralis on different hosts revealed that, consumption index (CI) was highest on common bean (0.50%) and lowest on corn (0.30%) in 3th instar larvae at first generation. Consumption index were found to be maximum in second generation on lettuce in 3rd , 4th and 6th instar larvae (0.51, 0.32 and 0.24%) respectively, while the highest CI were reported in 4th, 5th and 6th instar larvae (0.32, 0.32 and 0.24%) at third generation. The highest value of growth rate (GR) was recorded by larvae of S. littoralis fed on lettuce followed by tomato in different instars for three generations but the highest GR was observed with larvae of S. littoralis fed on common bean in 3rd instars at first and second generations. Approximate digestibility (AD) was observed at the highest mean value through the larvae fed on lettuce leaves during third generation. The data revealed that, the highest Assimilation rate (AR) were reported in 3rd instar larvae fed on common bean (44.96%) at first generation and (39.94%) at second generation. ECD and ECI were in the highest level at 6th instar during three generations when larvae reared on leaves of common bean. Data explained that, (CI, GR, AD, AR, ECI and ECD) were significantly affected by host plants, instars and generation.

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