Effect of host plants on the biology of Spodoptera litura (F.)

Spodoptera litura is an important polyphagous insect pest and information on its host plant relationship aspects is important for developing IPM approaches. The present study evaluates the effect of five natural hosts (cabbage, maize, okra, alfalfa and sesbania) and an artificial diet on the biology of S. litura under laboratory conditions. It was observed that cabbage is the most suitable host- as the larval length was found maximum on cabbage (3.53 cm) followed by alfalfa (3.50 cm), while the least was on okra (2.79 cm). The life span and fecundity of female was also maximum with cabbage; and the least number of egg masses of 7.5 and 9.5 were observed on maize and okra, respectively. The total number of eggs laid was maximum with alfalfa (7200) followed by cabbage (6000) and artificial diet (5200); the least being with maize (1900) and sesbania (2000). These results reveal that all the biological parameters viz., egg, larva, pupa and adult of S. litura are influenced by the host plants.