Biotic potential and reproductive parameters of Spodoptera dolichos (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the laboratory

Débora G Montezano,Daniel R Sosa-Gómez,Edegar Fronza,Vânia F Roque-Specht,Neiva M Barros,Silvana V Paula-Moraes,Alexandre Specht

doi:10.1590/s1984-46702015000600008

Abstract

The biotic potential and reproductive parameters of Spodoptera dolichos (Fabricius, 1794) were evaluated under controlled conditions (25 ± 1°C, 70 ± 10% RH and 14 hour photophase). The longevity, pre-, post- and oviposition periods, fecundity, and fertility of 25 couples were evaluated. The longevity of females (12.9 days) was not significantly different than that of males (12.4 days). The mean durations of the pre-, post- and oviposition periods were 3.0, 0.4 and 10.4 days, respectively. The mean fecundity was 4,086.0 eggs per female and mean fertility was 3,557.8 larvae per female. On average, a female copulated 1.4 times. The biotic potential of S. dolichos was estimated at 7.138 x 1018 individuals/female/year. The net reproductive rate (Ro) was 1,711.98 times per generation and the mean generation time (T) was 56.19 days. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was 0.133, with a finite rate of increase (l) of 1.142 per day. These results are compared with other species from Spodoptera and their relevance for management strategies of S. dolichos.

Highlights

Spodoptera dolichos (Fabricius, 1794) has been reported in most countries of the American Continents (e.g., SILVA et al 1968, FERGUSSON et al 1991, POGUE 2002, PASTRANA 2004)
Since there is no published information on to the biology of S. dolichos to compare our results with, we compared them with data on Spodoptera albula (Walker, 1857) and Spodoptera eridania (Stoll, 1782), specimens reared under the same conditions (MONTEZANO et al 2013b, 2014a)
Longevity and the duration of the immature stages were similar to those reported for Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858), whose size is similar to that of S. dolichos when reared under similar environmental conditions and artificial diet (BAVARESCO et al 2004)

Summary

Introduction

Spodoptera dolichos (Fabricius, 1794) has been reported in most countries of the American Continents (e.g., SILVA et al 1968, FERGUSSON et al 1991, POGUE 2002, PASTRANA 2004). The mean daily number of eggs from unfertilized females was smaller than from females that were fertilized once or more often, along with an increase in the length of the pre-oviposition period (Fig. 1).

Results

Conclusion