First record on the biology of Aeolesthes holosericea Fabricius, 1787 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an important pest on apple plantations (Malus domestica Borkh.) in India

摘要

 Detailed bionomics of Apple longicorn borer, Aeolesthes holosericea Fabricius has been recorded for the first time in India on apple plantations. The insects were reared in the laboratory at temperature ranging between 10.84°C-32.87°C and relative humidity of 26%-80% on apple billets. Larvae being wood borers cause considerable damage to apple trees. There are seven instar stages. Larvae of apple longicorn beetle while feeding on the apple trees took about 17.23±0.21 months and 13.66±3.31 days to develop from first instar to mature larva. This period included the overwintering period of 4-5 months. Adult longevity for male and females were 10.55±0.44 days, 17.23±0.21 months and 13.66±3.31 days and days respectively. The pest has a total life span of approximately two years (25.16±1.83 months). So far, no report is available on culture of Aeolesthes holosericea Fabricius under laboratory conditions to facilitate evaluation of developmental stages against known control measures and the life cycle and ethology of this insect pest is indispensible for developing its control measures in the present area of study. It is also impractible to study the complete life cycle of Aeolesthes holosericea in its natural condition because regular tracking of feeding and boring larvae within the tree trunk and cutting of the tree for each observation till the completion of life cycle is not feasible. Therefore a need was felt to develop a simple method of rearing Aeolesthes holosericea in laboratory conditions in order to identify susceptible stages to effective control methods