Effect of natural and artificial diets on the biological and reproductive characteristics of Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

The use of artificial diet provides the possibility of continuous mass- rearing of insects throughout the year. In current research, life- table parameters of Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lep.: Tortricidae) on six different diets under laboratory condition (temperature 25 ± 1 °C, 60±5% RH, and 16:8 hours (light: dark) were investigated. Diets include 1) modified version of the diet of Brinton et al. (1969), 2 and 3) modified versions of the diet of Bathon (1981), 4) diet of Fukova et al. (2005), 5) apple, and 6) apple leaf. The results showed that development time of codling moth were longest (51.17 days) with diet one and shortest (48.01 days) with diet six, respectively. The results of the tests also showed that the larval duration, the pupal duration on male, and the adult longevity in both, female and male, had significant differences. The longest pre-oviposition (2.01d) and oviposition (7.21d) periods were found on diet six and five, respectively. The females that fed on diet four (141.2 egg/female) and six (91.3 egg/female) in the larval period produced the highest and lowest eggs, respectively. The highest growth index of all life stages of codling moth was obtained by feeding the diet four. The population parameters indicated that all diets will display growth under the studied conditions, being the mean generation time (T) significantly shorter when using diet four (46.14 days) than others. Based on the preadult and adult results pointing to diet four being a more efficient diet, as well as the fecundity values provided by this diet, suggest that diet four could be improved and used as an alternative to a natural diet shortly.