AUTHOR=Mendesil Esayas , Rämert Birgitta , Marttila Salla , Hillbur Ylva , Anderson Peter 

TITLE=Oviposition Preference of Pea Weevil, Bruchus pisorum L. Among Host and Non-host Plants and its Implication for Pest Management

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2015.01186

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2015.01186

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The pea weevil, <italic>Bruchus pisorum</italic> L. is a major insect pest of field pea, <italic>Pisum sativum</italic> L. worldwide and current control practices mainly depend on the use of chemical insecticides that can cause adverse effects on environment and human health. Insecticides are also unaffordable by many small-scale farmers in developing countries, which highlights the need for investigating plant resistance traits and to develop alternative pest management strategies. The aim of this study was to determine oviposition preference of pea weevil among <italic>P. sativum</italic> genotypes with different level of resistance (<italic>Adet</italic>, <italic>32410-1</italic> and <italic>235899-1</italic>) and the non-host leguminous plants wild pea (<italic>Pisum fulvum</italic> Sibth. et Sm.) and grass pea (<italic>Lathyrus sativus</italic> L.), in no-choice and dual-choice tests. Pod thickness and micromorphological traits of the pods were also examined. In the no-choice tests significantly more eggs were laid on the susceptible genotype <italic>Adet</italic> than on the other genotypes. Very few eggs were laid on <italic>P</italic>. <italic>fulvum</italic> and <italic>L</italic>. <italic>sativus</italic>. In the dual-choice experiments <italic>Adet</italic> was preferred by the females for oviposition. Furthermore, combinations of <italic>Adet</italic> with either <italic>235899-1</italic> or non-host plants significantly reduced the total number of eggs laid by the weevil in the dual-choice tests. Female pea weevils were also found to discriminate between host and non-host plants during oviposition. The neoplasm (<italic>Np</italic>) formation on <italic>235899-1</italic> pods was negatively correlated with oviposition by pea weevil. Pod wall thickness and trichomes might have influenced oviposition preference of the weevils. These results on oviposition behavior of the weevils can be used in developing alternative pest management strategies such as trap cropping using highly attractive genotype and intercropping with the non-host plants.</p>