Development and Oviposition of Peregrinus maidis (Homoptera: Delphacidae) on Various Host Plants

Abstract

The development and oviposition of Peregrinus maidis (Ashmead) (Homoptera: Delphacidae), a serious pest and the only known vector of maize stripe tenuivirus and maize mosaic rhabdovirus in tropical and subtropical areas, was studied on the following plants in the laboratory: corn (Zea mays L. var. Saccharata ‘Guardian’), itch grass (Rottboellia exaltata L.), rice (Oryza sativa L. var. Mars, Saturn, Nato, Bellevue, Labelle, Labonnet, and Starbonnet), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench var. AKS 614), goose grass (Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn), oats (Avena sativa L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides L.), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli L.) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). Peregrinus maidis nymphs did not develop on rye, oats, rice and sugarcane, but the adults survived for various lengths of time on these test plants. The average length of nymphal development on corn, itch grass, sorghum, goose grass, barnyard grass and gama grass was 17.20, 17.87, 20.21, 24.97, 27.24 and 60.50 days, respectively. Adult longevity (X SD) on corn, gama grass, itch grass, sorghum, goose grass, and barnyard grass was 36.1 20.0, 42.7 16.6, 28.3 11.9, 7.6 6.4, 8.1 7.3 and 7.3 6.6 days, respectively. Oviposition rarely occurred on sorghum, goose grass and barnyard grass. The numbers of eggs laid per day per female on corn, itch grass and gama grass was (X SD) 21.0 2.0, 6.4 6.6, 3.5 3.0 eggs, respectively; the numbers of eggs per female per life on these respective plants was (X SD) 612 170.1, 146 156.7 and 48 45.6 eggs.