Preference of pumpkin beetles, Aulacophora spp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to different cucurbitaceous hosts
2023
P. MANIKANDAN | M. SARAVANARAMAN | K. SUGUNA | V. SELVANARAYANAN
Preference for two species of pumpkin beetles, i.e. Aulacophora foveicollis (Lucas) and Aulacophora intermedia (Jacoby) (Galerucidae: Coleoptera) towards six cucurbitaceous hosts were evaluated at the Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India. In the field evaluation, the population of A. foveicollis was the highest in pumpkin (12.83 adults/ plant) and least in snake gourd (0.61 adults/ plant). However, the population of A. intermedia was the maximum in bottle gourd (11.89 adults/ plant) and was least in bitter gourd (5.17 adults/ plant). In the laboratory free choice test, A. foveicollis preferred pumpkin, while A. intermedia preferred ridge gourd. Bitter gourd was the least preferred by both species. A similar preference pattern was observed in the confinement test also. Orientation assay using an olfactometer revealed that preference towards different hosts by A. foveicollis was bottle gourd> pumpkin >ridge gourd, cucumber >snake gourd > bitter gourd, and that of A. intermedia was ridge gourd> bottle gourd > pumpkin > cucumber > snake gourd > bitter gourd. The maximum number of trichomes recorded on the bottle gourd was followed by the snake gourd, whereas less trichome density was recorded on the cucumber. Trichome density had a significant positive correlation with the A. intermedia population and a non-significant negative correlation with A. foveicollis.
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