Biological Studies on Potato Tuber Moth Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under Different Temperatures

Studies on the biology of Potato tuber moth (PTM) Phthorimaea operculella Zeller reared in an indoor rearing room at 25 ± 2°C and 70 ± 5% RH revealed that the duration of egg, larval and pupal stages were 5.8 ± 1.3, 17.4 ± 1.9 and 10.6 ± 0.9 days, respectively. Longevity of adults was 37.5 ± 11.2 and 18.2 ± 6.4 days for male and female, respectively. The pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods averaged 2.3 ± 0.5, 8.3 ± 4.0 and 5.8 ± 4.6 days, respectively. Female fecundity was found to be 161.9 ± 48.8 eggs and the fertility was 91.9 ± 3.3%. The generation period lasted 34.0 ± 2.4 days under the same conditions. Statistical analysis indicated that temperatures of 20, 25 and 30 ± 1°C had significant effects on the studied aspects of the biology of PTM studied viz. the pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods, longevity, fecundity and fertility (%). The duration of one generation was 52.0 ± 4.2, 35.2 ± 2.3 and 20.3 ± 0.5 days at 20, 25 and 30 ± 1°C, respectively, at the RH of 75%.