Effect of Nosema pyrausta (Microsporida Nosematidae) on food consumption and utilisation in the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera, Crambidae)
2001
Abdel Rahman, K. M. | Cagan, L. (Slovak Agricultural University, Nitra (Slovak Republic). Faculty of Agronomy)
The effect of Nosema pyrausta infection on food consumption and utilisation by the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis was studied under laboratory conditions, using a semi-synthetic diet. The consumption index, which reflects the rate of food intake in a given period, differed significantly between the infected and control larvae. Infection by N. pyrausta had no significant effect on the total amount of food consumed by different larval instars of O. nubilalis, but it affected the feeding period by shortening the development time of the 3rd and 4th instar. The digestibility, weight gain, growth rate and frass produced did not significantly differ between healthy and Nosema-infected larvae. In contrast, the efficiency of conversion of ingested food to body substance was significantly affected by Nosema infection, which resulted in significant decrease of pupal weight in infected individuals. The time of infection was also important - pupae originating from larvae infected earlier (3rd instar) were significantly lighter than those of larvae infected in the 4th or 5th instar
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