Effect of Morphological Characters of Indigenous Sugarcane Varieties on Population of Chilo infuscatellus (Snellen) and its parasitoid, Cotesia flavipes (Cameron)
Bina Khanzada1, Arfan Ahmed Gilal1*, Bhai Khan Solangi1 and Imtiaz Ahmed Nizamani2
ABSTRACT
Sugarcane stem borer, Chilo infuscatellus Snellen. has caused severe losses in cane growing areas of Pakistan. Among natural enemies, Cotesia flavipes Cameron has been widely used in different regions of the world for its management. Considering the significant role of morphological characters of sugarcane varieties on infestation of C. infuscatellus, thus, on parasitism of C. flavipes, this study was conducted in 2013 and 2014. Ten sugarcane varieties i.e., NIA-98, NIA-2004, Thatta-10, Gulab-95, BL-4, L-116, SPS-26, AEC86-223, AEC82-1026 and Larkana-201 were used in the study, each sown on half acre area at Experimental field of Nuclear Institute of Agriculture, Tando Jam, Pakistan. Observations were taken on morphological characters of varieties i.e., cane length, number of internodes, length of leaf, sheath, trichome density along with infestation and larval population of C. infuscatellus and parasitism of C. flavipes were recorded. Results indicated a high variation in the morphological characters of different sugarcane varieties evaluated, that in response affected the population of both C. infuscatellus and its parasitoid, C. flavipes. Among varieties, the highest population of C. infuscatellus was recorded on Thatta-10 variety, whereas, L-116 suffered the lowest damage. The population trend of C. infuscatellus on remaining varieties was recorded in the order of AEC-821026 > AEC-86-223 > Gulabi-95 > SPSG-26 > BL-4 > Larkan-2001 > NIA- 2004 > NIA-98 > 98. In continuation of the maximum population of C. infuscatellus, the highest the highest parasitism of C. flavipes on C. infuscatellus was also recorded on Thatta-10, and the lowest parasitism on L-116 variety. Moreover, among morphological characters, only the number of internodes showed a significant influence the infestation and larval population of C. infuscatellus along with parasitism of C. flavipes. Therefore, it is suggested that cultivation of susceptible varieties should be avoided to restrict the infestation of C. infuscatellus.
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