Damage potential of bruchids in different edible legumes and
interspecific competition between two species of Callosobruchus
spp. (Bruchidae: Coleoptera)
-
Author:T.Srinivasan, C.Durairaj and B.Vinoth Kumar
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:95, Issue:jul-dec
DOI:
Abstract
Six edible legumes viz., green gram, black gram, chickpea, pigeonpea, pea
and cowpea were subjected to infestation by two species of bruchids viz., Callosobruchus
maculatus and C. chinensis to study the extent of damage under single-species and
mixed population conditions. Green gram was found to be the most suitable host in
terms of suitability index for C. maculatus and C. chinensis under single-species (0.0545
and 0.0627, repsectively) and mixed population conditions (0.0556 and 0.0510, respectively).
On the contrary, red gram was the least preferred host for C. maculatus and C. chinensis
both under single-species (0.0439 and 0.0445, respectively) and mixed population (0.0397
and 0.0389, respectively) conditions. The competition between these two species implied
that though both the species coexist together during storage, C. maculatus was dominant
over C. chinensis.
Key words : Callosobruchus spp.- damage potential- edible legumes - interspecific
competition.