Mfa. Jallow et Mp. Zalucki, A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION IN OVIPOSITION PREFERENCE IN HELICOVERPA-ARMIGERA (HUBNER) (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE), Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 34, 1995, pp. 281-288
Intra-population variation in oviposition preference of Helicoverpa ar
migera was examined using two testing techniques; oviposition choice e
xperiments with free flying females in cages of two sizes, and a novel
technique in which tethered insects were brought in contact with the
test leaf discs by the experimenter. Though individual females differe
d in oviposition preference, most ranked maize, sorghum and tobacco hi
ghest, followed by cotton. The least preferred plants were cowpea and
lucerne. However, a few of the females had quite different preferences
both from the majority and between each other. Individual females con
sistently ranked plants in the same order within a test across days an
d across tests, regardless of the order in which testing procedures we
re used. The use of the tethered insect technique in assessing host pr
eference of H. armigera is discussed.