Rearing the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, on a tapioca-based artificial dietBilal Haider Abbasi1,2, Khalique Ahmed3, Feeroza Khalique3, Najma Ayub2, Hai Jun Liu4, Syed Asad Raza Kazmi5 and Muhammad Nauman Aftab6 1 National Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing-100080, PR China.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad-45320, Pakistan
3 Pulses Program, Crop Sciences Institute, NARC, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
4 College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing-100083, China
5 State Key Laboratory of Computer Science, Institute of Software, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing-100080, PR China
6 Bioinformatics Laboratory and National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing-100101, PR China
AbstractThe impact of a tapioca-based artificial diet on the developmental rate, life history parameters, and fertility was examined over five consecutive generations for the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a highly polyphagous pest of many agricultural crops. The study showed that when fed the tapioca-based artificial diet during larval stage, larval and pupal developmental period, percent pupating, pupal weight, emergence rate of male and female, longevity, fecundity and hatching were non-significantly different than that of the control agar-based artificial diet. Moreover, the cost to rear on tapioca-based diet approached 2.13 times less than the cost of rearing on the agar-based artificial diet. These results demonstrate the effectiveness and potential cost savings of the tapioca-based artificial diet for rearing H. armigera. Keywords: diet cost efficiency, life history, Manihot esculenta
Correspondence: chinabilal@yahoo.com Received: 19 August 2006 | Accepted: 10 December 2006 | Published: 23 May 2007
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