Development and demographic parameters of the carob moth Apomyelois ceratoniae on four diet regimes

The carob moth, Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) (Lepidoptera Pyralidae), is a serious pest of pomegranate in Iran and a well known pest of many fruits from a wide range of plant families as well as dried fruits during storage. Development and demographic parameters of A. ceratoniae were studied in a growth chamber at temperature of 30 ± 1 °C, relative humidity of 75 ± 5% and a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) on fruits of pomegranate, pistachio, fig, and date. The results indicated that mean generation times were 42.38 ± 0.47, 45.24 ± 0.42, 57.83 ± 1.19 and, 89.55 ± 1.48 days on pomegranate, pistachio, fig and, date, respectively. The gross fecundity rate on pistachio was higher than those on three other diets. The net reproductive rate (Ro) was calculated to be lowest on date (3.64 ± 0.59) and highest on pistachio (45.74 ± 4.17). The net reproductive rates on four diets differed significantly. The highest and lowest amounts of the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) were observed on pomegranate (0.107 ± 0.013) and date (0.018 ± 0.002), respectively. The rm values were significantly different among four diets. The highest estimated doubling time was 37.46 ± 5.82 days on date. Our findings showed that the reproduction and population growth parameters of the carob moth on fruits of pomegranate and pistachio were higher than those obtained on fig and date.