Nutritional performance of the tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera, on different tomato cultivars

Davoud Kouhi,Ali Golizadeh,Bahram Naseri,Henry Hagedorn

doi:10.1093/jis/14.1.102

Abstract

The development and cultivation of tomato cultivars that are resistant to the tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are very limited in Iran and other parts of the world because of the lack of information about resistant tomato cultivars to minimize the use of insecticides. Therefore, the present study was carried out to identify alternative methods to chemical control. Nutritional performance of the larval stages (fourth, fifth, and sixth instars) of H. armigera on fruit of eight tomato cultivars, including SUN 6108 f1, Rio grande UG, Korral, Super strain B, CH falat, Hed rio grande, Cal.JN3, and Super crystal, was studied under laboratory conditions. Fourth instars reared on CH falat and SUN 6108 f1 respectively showed the highest and lowest values of approximate digestibility. The highest values of efficiency of conversion of ingested food and efficiency of conversion of digested food of fifth instars were on Super strain B. The relative consumption rate and relative growth rate values of the sixth instars were the highest on Korral. The highest and lowest values of consumption index of sixth instars were on Super strain B and Hed rio grande, respectively. The efficiency of conversion of ingested food and efficiency of conversion of digested food values of whole larval instars were the highest on Hed rio grande and lowest on Rio grande UG. The results of nutritional indices indicated that Rio grande UG is an unsuitable host for H. armigera .

Highlights

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Solanales: Solanaceae)) is one of the most important vegetables grown in many parts of the world because it is a good source of vitamins
Tomato is more susceptible to the pests’ attack than other vegetable crops, mainly because of its tenderness and softness. It is devastated by an array of pests; the major damage is caused by the tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Sajjad et al 2011)
The results of the nutritional indices of fourth, fifth, and sixth, and whole larval instars of H. armigera are provided in Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4

Summary

Introduction

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Solanales: Solanaceae)) is one of the most important vegetables grown in many parts of the world because it is a good source of vitamins. Tomato is more susceptible to the pests’ attack than other vegetable crops, mainly because of its tenderness and softness. It is devastated by an array of pests; the major damage is caused by the tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Sajjad et al 2011). This insect is a highly polyphagous and serious pest that infests more than 100 plant species, including vastly planted, economically important crops such as cotton, maize, tobacco, pigeonpea, and chickpea (Talekar et al 2006). The present study was carried out to identify alternative methods to chemical control

Objectives

Methods

Results