Demographic characteristics of the cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on chickpea landraces

The cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus is one of the most destructive pests of pulses including chickpea. In this research, the effect of chickpea landraces including Abgoshtiriz bokan, Etiopi, Khardar bokan, Zard kordestan, Siah alashtar, Lablaboei arzhantin, Lablaboei bokan, Lablaboei canadaei and Lablaboei hendi, and Abijam Kermanshah cultivar were studied on population parameters of C. maculatus under laboratory conditions (28±2°C temperature, 65±5% RH, and a photoperiod of 14 L: 10 D h). Moreover, some physical and biochemical characteristics of chickpea seeds were measured and any possible correlations between them and life table parameters were investigated. According to the results, the longest larval and pupal periods and total development time of C.maculatus were on Siah alashtar landrace and the shortest one was on Lablaboei bokan landrace. The higher and lower values of net reproductive rate (R0) were observed on Lablaboei hendi (30.33 ± 3.51 offspring/individual) and Siah alashtar landraces (19.28 ± 2.71 offspring/individual), respectively. The lowest value of intrinsic rate of increase (r) of C.maculatus was observed on Siah alashtar landrace (0.079 ± 0.040 day-1) and the highest was on Lablaboei bokan landrace (0.110 ± 0.044 day-1). The highest grain hardiness index and protein content were on Siah alashtar landrace, whereas the lowest these characteristics were on Lablaboei bokan and Abijam Kermanshah. Significant correlations were observed between life history parameters and physical and biochemical traits of chickpea landraces. Our findings showed that Siah alashtar is a relatively unsuitable and Lablaboei bokan is a suitable and relatively sensitive host for feeding of C.maculatus.