Nutritional indices and host preference of American white webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) on five host plants

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Abstract

The American white webworm, Hyphantria cunea Drury, is an important pest of the forest, orchards and crop plants in the Guilan province of Iran. Therefore in this study nutritional indices and host preference of the larvae were evaluated on Morus alba L., Juglans regia L., Armeniaca vulgaris Lam., Platanus orientalis L. and Populus euramericana Guinier at 23: 28 ± 1°C (night: day), 65 ± 5 % RH and photoperiod of 16L: 8D. Results indicated that the relative consumption rate (RCR), relative growth rate (RGR), efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI), efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) and approximate digestibility (AD) were significantly different among hosts. The RCR on P. orientalis was significantly higher than J. regia, M. alba and P. euramericana. RGR was the highest on M. alba, however, it was the lowest on A. vulgaris. ECI and ECD were the highest on M. alba. In contrast, AD was the lowest on M. alba. These results indicated a higher performance of the larvae fed on M. alba. There were significant differences among the hosts and the larvae preferred M. alba significantly than other hosts.

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Journal of Entomological Society of Iran
Volume 26, Issue 1
September 2006
Pages 57-72

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