Population growth and development of Carpophilus hemipterus (L.) on cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale L.) in the storage

This research was conducted to obtain the information about the population growth and development of C. hemipterus on cashew nut by considering the initial population density and feed availability, thus it can be expected to eliminate the damage on cashew nut in the storage. Study was carried out under laboratory condition by no-choice test for each treatment. There were two factors as a treatment combination, i.e. initial population density (1, 5, 10, 20, and 40 pairs) and diet quantity (25, 50, and 100 g). The variables observed on this research were mortality of infested adults, population growth (number of eggs, larvae, pupae, and F1 progeny), development period from egg to adult, and diet weight loss. Results showed that the number of eggs, larvae, pupae, and F1 progeny emerged were higher on 40 pairs of adult insects with 25 g diet and the development period from egg to adult was last for 41.26 days. Diet weight loss was influenced by initial population density and diet quantity with the higher loss was on 40 pairs of adult insects and 50 g diet.