Lifetable of mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis tinsley on cotton under laboratory conditions

Phenococcus solenopsis Tinsley is a destructive pest of cotton, which originated from USA and coevolved with plentiful food plants. The devastating outbreak of P. solenopsis is reported to cause nearly 30–60% yield losses from India and Pakistan during 2005–2009. The lifetable characters of P. solenopsis were carried out at 25°C on cotton under the laboratory conditions. The data showed that one generation P. solenopsis was completed in 37.225 days at 25°C. Doubling time, intrinsic rate of natural increase and finite rate of increase at 25°C were 5.500, 0.126 and 1.134 days, respectively. This paper describes the lifetable and discusses about the population parameters of P. solenopsis under laboratory conditions which can be simulated to field levels for IPM.