Abstract
Simple SummaryThe tomato fruitworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a destructive polyphagous insect pest of tomatoes and its control largely depends on chemical pesticides. However, indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides has resulted in the development of resistance and posed serious environmental problems. Alternatively, in search of environmentally friendly pest management techniques, the use of trap crops has recently gained more attention. In this study, we compared different accessions of S. viarum to investigate which of them have the highest potential as a dead-end trap crop for H. armigera. Results from the laboratory experiment showed a significant variation among the S. viarum accessions in terms of H. armigera oviposition, and exhibited a higher level of resistance against H. armigera larvae compared to the tomato plants. Under the semi-field condition, trap cropping of S. viarum significantly reduces the total egg-laying of H. armigera on tomato. This study provides important information about the abilities of S. viarum plants to influence the life parameter of H. armigera and highlighted the possibilities to use S. viarum as a dead-end trap crop for the management of H. armigera. However, the efficacy of S. viarum needs to be tested under large, open-field conditions. Solanum viarum has been proposed as a potential dead-end trap crop for the management of Helicoverpa armigera because of its unsuitability for larval growth and survival despite being overwhelmingly preferred for oviposition. This study delved into the different S. viarum accessions for ovipositional preference and non-suitability for larval growth and survival of H. armigera. Besides, foliage trichomes, acylsugars, and phenolic content of S. viarum plants were assessed and compared with tomato. Since there is no significant variation in the ovipositional preference and larval performance of H. armigera, our result revealed that all those evaluated accessions of S. viarum have the potential to be used as a dead-end trap crop for the management of H. armigera. However, significant variation among the S. viarum accessions in terms of H. armigera oviposition was also evident in a no-choice experiment. Because of high-density glandular trichomes, acylsugars, and phenolic content, S. viarum significantly impaired H. armigera larval growth and survival compared to the tomato. Hence, our study elucidated that the S. viarum plant fits with the criteria for dead-end trap crop, and has the potential as a dead-end trap crop for the H. armigera, which needs to be tested under large, open-field conditions.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most extensively consumed and widely grown vegetables [1], produced on 5 million hectares with a production of more than 180 million tons globally [2]
The ovipositional response measured as the mean number of eggs laid pe7ropfl2a1nt of H. armigera female moths did not differ significantly among the S. viarum accessions (F = 1.22, df = 7, p = 0.30) (Figure 1)
In the two-choice assay, H. armigera gravid female moths showed significant preference to oviposit on three S. viarum accessions, VI042189, VI055088, and VI042190 compared to tomato (Table 1)
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most extensively consumed and widely grown vegetables [1], produced on 5 million hectares with a production of more than 180 million tons globally [2]. With the ability of an insect to develop pesticide resistance combining with the negative impacts on human and environmental health [5], the development of a sustainable pest management strategy becomes more challenging [9]. This challenge has stimulated researchers’ interest in the development of better management alternatives by exploiting the reproductive and feeding behavior of the pest insects [3,10]. It involves habitat manipulation of the pest species in the agricultural crop fields [12], on which specific plant species (i.e., trap crop) are grown in the proximity of the main crop in order to attract pest species and where insects will fail to survive or reproduce [13]
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