How the seed coat affects the mother’s oviposition preference and larval performance in the bean beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) in leguminous species

Table 2 Egg-laying and larval survival of A. obtectus on artificial seeds incorporated with bean seed coat powder

Artificial seed treatment¹	Number of eggs laid/female (mean ± SE)	Dead L1 outside (%)	Dead larvae inside (%)	Adults emerged (%)
2.5% seed coat	8.6 ± 2.1a	14.3	85.7	0
5.0% seed coat	4.5 ± 1.6a	28.9	71.1	0
10.0% seed coat	6.6 ± 1.2a	12.9	87.1	0
Control	7.6 ± 2.3a	2.7	2.7	94.6

¹Artificial seeds (balls) consisted of 80% cotyledon powder plus 20% water-soluble potato starch powder. A portion of the latter was substituted with 2.5–10% seed coat powder. Control balls contained only cotyledon and starch powders. The Brown-Forsythe test indicated homogeneity of variances of the number of eggs laid/female: F_3,48 = 1.5344, p = 0.2176, and one-way ANOVA (F_3,48 = 0.8445, p = 0.4763), as-well-as the Scheffé post-hoc test were not significant at p < 0.05 (means signed with the same small letters)

ISSN: 2730-7182