Oke O. A, Ademolu K. O and Azeez W. O
Accepted Abstracts: Entomol Ornithol Herpetol
Callosobruchus maculatus is reported to be the most damaging pest of legume seeds in the tropics and subtropics. In this research work, the biology of this pest was investigated on cowpea seeds in the Research Laboratory of the Department of Biological sciences, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. This experiment began with the eggs laid by each Callosobruchus maculatus on different cowpea seeds and it continues till the emeregence of adults. The results show that female Callosobruchus maculatus that are exposed to 20 cowpea seeds (highest cowpea seeds for the experiment) laid the highest eggs per female (an average of 59 eggs) and also produce the highest number of progeny (average of 44 per female) while those exposed to 5 cowpea seeds (lowest for the experiment) laid an average of 52 eggs and produce the lowest number of progeny (average of 22 per female). This shows that eggs of Callosobruchus maculatus survive best when they have more space for their larvae to survive
