Amaranthus is one of those rare plants whose leaves are eaten as vegetables and seeds as cereal. Unfortunately, one of the major factors limiting the productivity of Amaranthus is the incidence of insect pests attack. The aim of this study was to determine the insect pest occurrence on cultivated Amaranths in Benin City, Nigeria. The experiment was conducted in the Agricultural farm of University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. Three varieties of Amaranth were used for this experiment, namely, Amaranthus cruentus (white-seeded), Amaranthus hybridus (red-seeded) and Amaranthus hybridus (black-seeded). The experimental design used was completely randomized design with three replicates, each replicate having nine plots. The result showed the diversity of insect pests associated with Amaranth. Insects found on Amaranth were classified into seven (7) orders, namely Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera and Mantodea; and eight (8)

ABSTRACT:Amaranthus species is one of the plants often considered as the most important green leaf vegetable in Nigeria and other countries. Its production has been plagued with an array of factors including incidence of insect pest. This experiment took place in Agricultural farm of University of Benin, Edo state Nigeria from February to April 2013 and 2014. The aim was to investigate the effect of Nutrient and Variety on Insect Pest infestation of Amaranthus spp. The experimental design used was completely randomized design with three replicates comprising a factorial combination of three types of Soil and three varieties of Amaranth. The result showed that Amaranthus cruentus suffered more insect pest attack than other Amaranthus used and that Amaranths planted on poultry manure attracted more insect pests than Amaranths planted on other Nutrients. These results can be employed as part of cultural control methods in the management of insect pests of Amaranths. © JASEM http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v19i2.11