Abstract
The numbers of eggs laid by individual females of three geographically isolated strains of C. maculatus (F.) on different numbers of cowpeas were counted. Females of strains originating in the Yemen and Brazil laid about 40 eggs when provided with a single cowpea, whilst females of a Nigerian strain laid 75. Given 40 cowpeas, females of all three strains laid between 80 and 90 eggs. Only one or two adults of the Yemen strain emerged from cowpeas irrespective of the initial number of eggs present, compared with the ten or more adults of the other two strains which emerged when the cowpea bore numerous eggs. The daily levels of oviposition did not differ among the strains when females had access to cowpeas changed daily for others bearing no eggs. The periods of development differed among the three strains, the greatest median value being 33 days in the Yemen strain where the greatest individual variation in development times was also noted. The significance of the results to the development of possible control measures for this pest is discussed.
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