Environmental Entomology (1983) 12, 1687-1689

F.S. Al-Zubaidi and J.L. Capinera (1983)
Application of different nitrogen levels to the host plant and cannibalistic behavior of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Environmental Entomology 12 (6), 1687-1689
Abstract: The effects of dietary nitrogen levels on cannibalistic behavior of a generalist herbivore, beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), were evaluated by rearing larvae on sugarbeet foliage from plants fertilized with less than normal, normal, and more than normal levels of nitrogen, and allowing larvae to cannibalize beet armyworm pupae. There was a significant inverse correlation between foliar nitrogen content and percent cannibalism. Fecundity was significantly increased by cannibalistic behavior among female larvae. Larval compensation for poor-quality diet by increased cannibalism is suggested as a potentially important factor in herbivore population dynamics.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): John L. Capinera

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Spodoptera exigua	Beet/sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris)