Effects of host plant species on the development of Dysdercus cingulatus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae)

The survivability and the developmental rates of Dysdercus cingulatus when fed various cultivated and wild host plant species were compared in the laboratory. On this basis, Chorisia speciosa was regarded as a better-than-adequate host plant for D. cingulatus. Abelmoschus moschatus, A. esculentus, Hibiscus makinoi, Thespesia populnea and Gossypium arboreum were adequate, H. tiliaceus was relatively poor, and Abutilon indicum was very poor. Although D. cingulatus developed faster when fed cultivated species than when fed wild species, host plant properties such as the weight of seeds and habit (arboreal or herbaceous) could not explain the survivability and developmental rate of D. cingulatus when fed the different species. Estimations of a lower threshold temperature for the development of D. cingulatus nymphs fed with plant species except for A. indicum fell within a range of 0.5 degrees (13.9 to 14.4 degreesC). However, the estimated total effective temperature for development varied so widely among food plant species that its value for A. indicum was more than twice that for Ch. speciosa. Developmental parameters obtained here may be applied to the design of control programs for D. cingulatus in cotton fields adjacent to or near vegetative stands containing alternative wild host plants.