Cassia tora (L.) Roxb.: An Alternate Host for Offseason Survival of Tobacco Caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius, 1775)

Spodoptera litura (Fabricius, 1775) is a serious polyphagous pest causes serious damage to various crops like tobacco, cotton, cabbage etc. in Asia and other Indian subcontinents. Depletion in host plants may lead to adverse effect on the alternate host plants. During survey, observed S. litura larvae were feeding on Cassia tora, in this study third instar larvae of S. litura larvae were reared on the common and most preferred hosts like castor and tobacco. Larval, prepupal and pupal weight were compared with and other two common hosts. Percent pupation and adult emergence rate were also recorded. Among three hosts, insects which fed on Cassia tora have higher larval weight (0.825 mg) and also observed longer larval period compared to other two hosts. No differences were observed in prepupal, pupal (male and female) weight. Percent pupation was higher in S. litura, which were fed on castor and tobacco i.e., 100 % and 96.67 % respectively, and on C. tora recorded lowest per cent pupation (20 %). Adult emergence rate was found to be non-significant on castor and tobacco fed larvae but the lowest adult emergence was recorded on cassia about 18 %. Feeding of newly hatched instars of S. litura confirms that, it uses C. tora as an alternate host during off-season survival and complete its life cycle. Longer larval duration on C. tora may prone larvae to expose more to the external environment, results in less pupation rate.