Comparison of feeding indices of Chrysodeixis chalcites (Lep.: Noctuidae) on four tomato cultivars (Short communication)

The tomato looper, Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esper) is one of the polyphagous insect pests of different agricultural crops including tomato in Iran and some countries of the world. Nutritional indices of fourth and fifth instars of this pest in response to feeding on four cultivars of tomato (“Cal.JN3”, “Hed rio grande”, “Sun 6108f1” and “Super crystal”) were evaluated under laboratory conditions. Our results showed that the highest efficiency of conversion of ingested (ECI) (61.89%) and digested (ECD) (81.64%) food, and the lowest approximate digestibility (AD) (82.50%) and consumption index (CI) (1.69) were on “Sun 6108f1”. The larvae reared on Super crystal had the highest RCR (0.341 mg/mg/day) value. The highest value of growth rate (GR) was on “Sun 6108f1” (3.42 mg/day), and lowest value of this index was on “Hed rio grande” (2.58 mg/day). Our findings revealed that cultivars “Hed rio grande” and “Cal.JN3” were unsuitable for feeding of C. chalcites.