Life table Analysis and Extent of Damage Caused by Spodoptera exigua (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera), A Serious Pest

Abstract

Agriculture is the baseline for uplift of economic sources for any country. But every year many hectares of the cropland area are damaged by herbivore insects. Among these herbivore insects, Spodoptera exigua is a serious pest of agricultural land. It damages almost 90 plant species. In the present study analysis of each life stage of S. exigua was carried out by providing four host plants namely, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brassica and Turnip. Experiment was conducted at 20 ±5˚C temperature, 60±5 relative humidity and 16:8 light and dark duration. Total food consumption was 14.01 ± 0.61 g on cauliflower, 11.65±0.07g on Cabbage, 5.41±0.19 on Brassica and 4.92±0.5 on turnip. Maximum larval duration was also recorded on cauliflower (14.00±0.47 days). The longest pupal duration was recorded for the larvae fed on turnip (14.00±0.82 days). Overall cauliflower was significantly preferred food (p<0.001) for S. exigua. The current study is a prerequisite for establishing effective control measure against this serious pest.