Biology of potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella on potato varieties

Laboratory evaluation was carried out in the Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal to study the biology and ovipositional preference of Phthorimaea operculella on five potato varieties namely, Kufri Girdhari, Kufri Himalini, Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Kanchan and Kufri Sindhuri. The results revealed that the fecundity was maximum when moths were reared as larvae on Kufri Kanchan, followed by K. Jyoti> K. Girdhari> K. Himalini>K. Sindhuri. The total lifecycle was maximum when larvae were fed on K. Himalini and the least with K. Sindhuri. The larval length varied with the varieties: larvae fed on Kufri Kanchan were longer (11.76 mm) and those fed on Kufri Sindhuri were short (6.48 mm). The egg size, larval breadth, pupal size and adult length did not show any significant variation. Amongst the varieties, K. Jyoti and K. Kanchan were the most preferred ones for oviposition, while the moderately preferred were K. Girdhari and K. Himalini and the least preferred was K. Sindhuri.