VARIETAL SCREENING OF COWPEA AGAINST PULSE BEETLES, CALLOSOBRUCHUS MACULATUS

ABSTRACT Different cow pea varieties viz., C-152, KBC-2, KBC-1, KM-5, IT-38956, TVX-944 and CP-17were tested for their susceptibility to Callosobruchus maculatus and C. analis at Department of Entomology. Agricultural College, Shimoga. Among them, CP-17 was comparatively less preferred host with lesser oviposition (81.33 eggs /100 g seeds), prolonged developmental period (34.67 days), least adult survival (84.67 %) and weight loss of grains (0.96%) followed by IT-38956 to C. maculatus. Similar trend in case of C. analis was observed with lesser oviposition (65.33 eggs / 100g seeds), prolonged developmental period (36.83 days), least adult survival (59.33%) and grain weight loss (0.90%) on CP-17 when compared with local variety. C-152 and local variety was recorded most preferred host for both the species