Comparative Biology, Growth and Development of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on Chickpea v. Artificial Diet
Pramod Kumar Mishra
Department of Entomology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Anup Chandra *
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR– Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur-208024, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Sujayanand GK
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR– Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur-208024, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Biswajit Mondal
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR– Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur-208024, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Vaibhav Kumar
Division of Basic Science, ICAR– Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur-208024, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Shravan Kumar Verma
Department of Entomology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Mukesh Srivastava
Department of Plant Pathology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
C. L. Maurya
Department of Seed Science & Technology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present investigation was conducted to study the biology of Helicoverpa armigera, during 2023 and 2024 in the laboratory conditions, Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur (U.P.). A total of 100 larvae were reared on chickpea plants and on artificial diet under controlled laboratory conditions. The results revealed that the larval period was significantly longer on chickpea (19.33 ± 0.88 days) compared to the artificial diet (16.33 ± 0.67 days), with higher larval mortality (25.91 ± 1.89%) on chickpea. Pupation was greater on the artificial diet (86.96 ± 2.00%), with lower pupal mortality (9.01 ± 2.93%) compared to chickpea (29.37 ± 3.36%). Female pupae attained a slightly higher mean weight on the artificial diet (0.266 ± 0.004 g) than on chickpea (0.257 ± 0.013 g). Adult emergence was higher on the artificial diet (90.99 ± 2.93%) with a sex ratio of 1:0.52 (♀), while chickpea recorded 70.63 ± 3.36% adult emergence with a sex ratio of 1:0.54 (♀). The total fecundity per female was significantly higher on the artificial diet (505.33 ± 16.15 eggs) compared to chickpea (383.33 ± 10.98 eggs) and hatchability was also superior (66.01 ± 2.62%). Growth index values indicated better fitness (0.84) and immature survival (3.37) on the artificial diet. Overall, artificial diet supported faster development, higher survival and better reproductive potential of H. armigera compared to chickpea.
Keywords: Artificial diet, biology, Cicer arietinum, growth index and Helicoverpa armigera