An effective artificial oviposition substrate for Pectinophora gossypiella

Abstract

Resistance management of Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) includes collection of larvae from fields, rearing to F1 generations under laboratory conditions, and evaluation against pesticides or Bt toxins. A critical step in its mass rearing is the availability of oviposition substrates suitable to produce sufficient neonates to generate robust bioassay data. This study demonstrates the suitability of an artificial oviposition substrate and minimizes the dependency on natural substrates which incurs cost and labor in maintenance of cotton plants.

A single semi‐synthetic diet with improved antimicrobial activity for mass rearing of lepidopteran insect pests of cotton and maize

“…Another cotton ball dipped in RO water was also placed in each jar. Suitable oviposition substrate was provided to collect eggs: cotton cloth for E. vittella and H. armigera , cloth dipped in a solution of non‐transgenic lyophilized cotton leaf powder for P. gossypiella (Nair & Kamath, ), parchment paper for C. partellus , and white paper for S. litura and S. exigua . The oviposition jars were covered with black cotton cloth fastened with rubber bands and maintained in the walk‐in environmental chamber at 25 ± 2 °C, 65 ± 5% r.h., and L12:D12 photoperiod.…”