Premium
Methods to measure performance of G rapholitha molesta on apples of five varieties
Author(s) -
Wang Yi,
Kong WeiNa,
Zhao LongLong,
Xiang HuiMing,
Zhang LiJun,
Li Jie,
RidsdillSmith James,
Ma RuiYan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12655
Subject(s) - biology , fecundity , tortricidae , lepidoptera genitalia , host (biology) , pest analysis , population , cultivar , pupa , larva , horticulture , botany , ecology , demography , sociology
Host plants will affect the performance and population dynamics of the polyphagous insect pest G rapholitha molesta ( B usck) ( L epidoptera: T ortricidae). Cultivar‐level variability needs to be considered in assessing the performance of G . molesta . We evaluated the fitness of G . molesta on five apple varieties in the laboratory by placing eggs on apples and observing their performance including survival, development, and fecundity of the adult insect. Our results demonstrated differences between indices such as larval duration, pupal weight, egg production, length of tunnel, and exiting rate of larvae, which gave similar host rankings. Variety Danxia was less suitable than Jinqing and Shuohong, and more suitable than Empire and Jinxing. However, other indices such as pupal duration, total pre‐oviposition time, and the estimated population parameters resulted in a different host ranking. We calculated weighted fitness scores to overcome the problem of inconsistent rankings. Empire changed from being the second highest ranking variety based on all population parameters to the second lowest using weighted fitness scores. The difference in ranking observed between apple varieties demonstrates the care needed in predicting population performance in the field using single traits.