comparative life table of aphis pomi (hemiptera: aphididae) on two host plants malus pumila l. and chaenomeles japonica under laboratory conditions

life table parameters of aphis pomi degeer (hemiptera: aphididae) were determined on two host plants: apple (malus pumila l.) and flowering quince (chaenomeles japonica lindl.). this study was carried out under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 ºc and rh of 70 ± 5 % and a photoperiod of 16: 8 h (l: d). the survivorship from first instar nymphs to adult was very close in m. pumila and c. japonica. the longevity of a. pomi was 8.1 ± 0.458 and 9.65 ± 0.412 days and the fecundity of female was 37.25 ± 2.198 and 32.9 ± 1.802 nymphs on m. pumila and c. japonica, respectively. peaks of reproductive value occurred at ages of 8 and 9 days when reared on m. pumila and c. japonica, respectively. the intrinsic rate of increase (r) on m. pumila was higher than that on c. japonica, as it was 0.396 ± 0.015 on m. pumila and 0.329 ± 0.006 day-1 on c. japonica. the mean generation time (t) was 9.13 ± 0.35 and 10.62 ± 0.18 days, on m. pumila and c. japonica, respectively. the results showed that the two closely related host plants had significant influence on life table parameters of a. pomi and the aphid showed a better performance on m. pumila than on c. japonica. these results indicated that m. pumila is more suitable for a. pomi, resulting in a higher reproductive performance.