Environmental Entomology (1988) 17, 452-455

D.H. Akey, B.A. Kimball and J.R. Mauney (1988)
Growth and development of the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), on bolls of cotton grown in enriched carbon dioxide atmospheres
Environmental Entomology 17 (3), 452-455
Abstract: The pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), was reared on the bolls of cotton plants grown in CO₂-enriched (649 µl/liter) and ambient CO₂ (371 µl/liter) chambers and in two open field plots, one with free-air CO₂ enrichment (522 µl/liter) and one without enrichment (ambient CO₂, 360 µl/liter). The effects of increased CO₂ levels on growth and development were examined. There was no difference in pupal weights of pink bollworm raised on CO₂-enriched cotton compared with those raised on ambient CO₂ cotton (26.80 versus 26.64 mg, respectively). Also, there was no difference in developmental time (21-27 d). Analysis of percent seed damage by larvae showed no differences between CO₂- enriched and ambient CO₂ cotton. These results were attributed to the nutritional qualities of the seed remaining the same (specifically the carbon/nitrogen ratio) despite CO₂ and photosynthetic changes in the plant.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Pectinophora gossypiella	Cotton (Gossypium)