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Biopotency of Salicylic acid against oviposition and feeding behavior of Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in cotton
* 1 , 2
1  College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
2  Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Academic Editor: Gianni Bellocchi

Abstract:

Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) is a potential threat for the successful cultivation of cotton all over the world. Despite of the modern management strategies, the damage by the pest is increasing. The repeated exposure of the pest to Bacillus thuringenisis (Bt) crops resulted in resistance development which has threatened the continued success of Bt cotton. Salicylic acid has been reported to enhance efficiency of the crops. Present investigations were carried out to determine the impact of salicylic acid on the oviposition and feeding behavior of Pink Bollworm larvae in cotton varieties i.e., CIM-70 and NIAB-78 at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. In 1st experiment, leaves and bolls treated with different concentrations of salicylic acid were kept in oviposition chamber and adults were released in chamber with the ratio of 5:5 male and female respectively. Experiment was performed following Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications and six concentrations of salicylic acid (0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 ppm). In 2nd compliment of the experiment, salicylic acid was evaluated against feeding behavior i.e., larval duration, pre-feeding time, feeding time, post-feeding time and percentage mortality of the Pink Bollworm. In both experiments, results revealed that application of salicylic acid at maximum concentration in NIAB-78 proved effective against pink bollworm oviposition and feeding in comparison to CIM-70. It is concluded that salicylic acid has the potential to reduce pink bollworms risks and present investigations will help researchers as well as farmers for the timely sustainable management of Pink Bollworm.

Keywords: Feeding behavior, Oviposition, Pectinophora gossypiella, Salicylic acid
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