Studies on growth and development of Heliothis armigera Hubn. on cotton genotypes

For growth and development of Heliothis armigera Hubn. on cotton genotypes, the physiological indices, viz., growth rate (GR), consumption index (C.I), approximate digestibility (AD), efficiency of conversion of ingested food (E.C.I) and efficiqcy of conversion of digested food (E.C.D) were studied. All the 14 cotton gemtypes belonging to Gossypium hirsutum (9), G. thurberi (I), G. palmeri (1) and G. arboreum (3) were statistically at par with respect to G.R and E.C.D. Lowest values of physiological parameters (C.I, G.R, E.C.I and E.C.D) demonstrated the unsuitability of LD 327 for growth and development of H. armigera as compared to G 27 and LD 230 among the arboreums. Among the hirsutums, TH 2 and TH 13 were identified as unsuitable for growth and development of H. armigera as indicated by low E.C.I i.e., 0.09 and 0.08, respectively. Lowest conversion efficiency of ingested food on TH 13 was attributed to highest consumption index (2.43) among the genotypes. Jhurar was identified as comparatively more suitable for growth and development of H. armigera as the values of G.R (0.26) and E.C.I (0.16) were the highest on this genotype. Larvae developed on IL 112 (glandless) were the heaviest as compared to those developed on other genotypes. Pupal weight was the lightest on LH 1134 as the gossypol content was the highest (0.242%) in this genotype. The larval and pupal weights were positively correlated (0.592).