Food Consumption Utilization, and Life History Parameters ofHelicoverpa armigera(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Reared on Diets of Varying Protein Level

Abstract

Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is an important pest of crops worldwide, and several studies have focused on the development of this species on different artificial diets. However, studies evaluating the insect’s food consumption and utilization using nutritionally different diets are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biology and to compare the consumption and use of food by H. armigera larvae on diets with different protein levels provided by several dietary ingredients used in the diets. The nutritional index, the relative consumption rate, the relative metabolic rate, the relative growth rate, and the apparent digestibility were higher in the diet with higher than the optimum level of protein. On the other hand, the conversion efficiency of digested food was lower, resulting in a higher metabolic cost. In terms of biological aspects, larval survival was higher for the diet with optimal protein content and lower for the diet with a higher protein level. The pupal period was longer for the diet with a higher protein content, while pupal survival was lower. Among the evaluated diets, the diet with an optimal protein containing white bean 75 g, wheat germ 60 g, soy bran 30 g, milk powder 30 g, brewer’s yeast 37.5 g as the protein sources resulted in a higher net reproductive rate, a shorter time for the population to double in number, and the highest rates of population growth. The results suggest that lower or higher protein contents in the diets of H. armigera negatively affect the biological aspects of this species.

Performance of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Fed on Six Host Plants: Potential Risks to Mid-high Latitude Crops in China

“…Likewise, nutritional indices also used to study ingestion, digestion, assimilation, and food conversion of other Lepidopteran larvae, such as Helicoverpa armigera (Naseri et al, 2010;Fite et al, 2018;Truzi et al, 2019). Although the nutritional parameter varied in different species, larval instars, and feeding times, it was crucial to determine the fitness of insects.…”

“…Recently, numerous researches on biology and nutrition have been carried out. The focus of these studies was based on different varieties of the same crop (Naseri et al, 2010;Rosa-Cancino et al, 2016;Barcelos et al, 2019), genetically-modified plants (Ramalho et al, 2011;Sousa et al, 2016), or artificial diets (Pinto et al, 2019;Truzi et al 2019). Less research compared the life parameters among different hosts.…”

Artificial Diets With Different Protein Levels for Rearing Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…The most important nutritional factors are the protein and carbohydrate levels, especially their proportions, as these are fundamental components for growth and development, and are part of the composition of enzymes and hormones ( Bae & Sicher 2004 , Sarate et al 2012 ). Studies on lepidopterans such as Plodia interpunctella (Hübner, 1813) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, 1808) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) have shown that low-protein diets promote changes in developmental period, weight and larval mortality, pupation rate, percentage of adult emergence, and nutritional indices ( Borzoui et al 2018 , Truzi et al 2019 ).…”

Nutritional Responses of the Black Cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufn.), Larvae under Toxicity Effects of Five Wild Botanical Extracts from Sinai, Egypt

“…The methodology recommended by Truzi et al [24], based on Scriber and Slansky [25], was used to estimate the quantitative nutritional parameters of the 4 th instar larvae of A. ipsilon as follows: the weight of feces produced (F), food…”

“…The current results in Table 8 showed that ECI values decreased when the larvae were exposed to the most toxic oils compared to the control at 28 ECD reflects metabolic efficiency and can be reduced by lowered the ECD or enhanced metabolic cost. As a response to decreased assimilation, more food is ingested, which increases RCR [24]. Both M. hortensis and A. santolina increased the food conversion efficiencies ECI and ECD.…”