Biology and fertility life table of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in different hosts

Abstract

In 2013, the presence of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) was reported in cotton, soybean, corn and weeds in diverse regions of Brazil. We studied the biology and the fertility life table of this pest when reared on cotton (293 cv. CNPA RF), soybean (cv. Brasmax Power), corn (cv. BRS 1010), wheat (cv. BR 18) and on an artificial diet. Caterpillars were reared using the vegetative and reproductive structures of the hosts, under laboratory conditions (temperature 25 ± 1°C; relative humidity (RH) 70 ± 10%; photoperiod =14 h). The experimental design was completely randomized, with five treatments (four host plants and artificial diet) and 17 replications. Significant effects were verified for the different types of hosts tested on the growth of the insect as well as on fecundity and laying rate. The results showed that cotton and soybean had higher viability at the stages of growth, higher rate of survival of adult females in the reproductive period than the other host crops, and similar values for insects reared on an artificial diet, which reveals that cotton and soybean can be appropriate for rearing H. armigera on a natural diet. Corn and wheat showed high larval and pupal mortality and low biotic potential.

Behavioral aspects of Helicoverpa armigera in the cotton vegetative phase1

“…Its preference for the upper third of the plant is closely related to its food habit, since it mainly attacks flower buds and cotton flowers that are concentrated in the middle and upper thirds of the plant. Olsen & Daly (2000) also verified this fact in cotton and Santos et al (2017) in soybean, a behavior also found in Chloridea virescens and H. zea Heliothinae (Torres & Ruberson 2006).…”

“…The females oviposit in cotton at night and eggs are laid single (Topper 1987, Ahmad 2004. The attack may begin in the vegetative phase, with small caterpillars consuming the leaves (Pascua & Pascua 2002), and then later in the reproductive phase, with larger caterpillars feeding on flower buds, flowers and bolls (Gomes et al 2017). Experimental evidence for learning of H. armigera has demonstrated that a previous experience with a host species increases the relative attractiveness of that host (Cunningham et al 1998).…”

Fertility Life Table, Population Parameters and Biotic Potential of Helicoverpa gelotopoeon (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…The intrinsic rate of increase (r) and the finite rate of population increase (λ) however, showed similar values when compared with other reports of H. armigera (Choudhury et al 2012, Razmjou 2013, Naseri et al 2014, Silva et al 2017. Time elapsed between generations was in general lower than those found for H. armigera (Dabhi and Patel 2007, Singh and Yadav 2009, Jha et al 2014, Gomes et al 2017, and the time taken for the population of H. gelotopoeon to double in size (DT) was similar to some reports of H. armigera (Choudhury et al 2012, Razmjou et al 2013 and Helicoverpa assulta (Guenée) (Wang et al 2008). These results suggest that this species has a high capacity to increase their populations under controlled rearing conditions and probably under field conditions.…”

Comparative Performance of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Chickpea and Faba Bean

“…In studies conducted recently by Reigada et al (2016), soybean and cotton (Gomes et al, 2017) they reported that soybean, cotton and cowpea as the most suitable hosts sustaining the survival and reproduction of H. armigera, having similar values with artificial diets. Abbasi et al (2007) also investigated varied larval mortality with little significant differences on a tapioca-based artificial diet in their study.…”