Vol. 12, Special Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Tumma Mounika, TK Hath and MK Debnath

Abstract:
A study was conducted to evaluate the fecundity of Callosobruchus chinensis based on variable number of males in the year 2022-23. For this study, Five sets for each type of pulses i.e., pea and chickpea were used in which each having one freshly emerged female of C. chinensis with 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 numbers of newly emerged males (unmated). It was found that maximum number of eggs were obtained on pea (mean= 97.23 eggs) and it was greater than that of chickpea (mean= 91.87 eggs). While, the number of eggs laid by a female varied significantly depending on the number of adult males present. The highest number of eggs (106.00) was observed when one female was exposed to seven males, while the minimum number of eggs (83.92) was recorded when one male was exposed to one female. While considering the interaction effect between the type of pulses and the variable number of males, both types of pulse seeds had the highest fecundity, with single female exposed to seven males i.e., mean fecundity of pea = 111.33 and chickpea = 100.67. The increase in the fecundity from 1: 1 to 1: 7 in respect of female: male, there was an increase in the fecundity by 22.59% and 18.87% in pea and chickpea. The actual number of effective mating for an optimum fecundity and the duration of fecundity in case of multiple mating out of a greater number of males are required to be studied further.