Life-table of Caryedon serratus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) reared on three different hosts

Life-table of Caryedon serratus Olivier (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), reared on seeds of groundnut, tamarind and Bengal gram has been constructed in laboratory. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r_m) on tamarind was 1.18 times higher than groundnut and 1.43 times higher than Bengal gram. The shorter generation time and higher intrinsic rate of increase shortened the population doubling time of C. serratus to 12.4 days on tamarind as compared to 14.59 days on groundnut and 17.68 days on Bengal gram. Based on the r_m values and doubling time, the most suitable host for multiplication of C. serratus was found to be tamarind followed by groundnut and Bengal gram. On all the three hosts studied, the maximum contribution towards stable age distribution was made by immature stages. The computation of life table expectancy data clearly indicated that the life expectancy of C. serratus declined gradually with the advancement of age.