Effect of temperature on rice white backed plant hopper Sogatella furcifera Sandhu Charanjeev, Suri K. S.* Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141004 *Email: kssuri@pau.edu
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract Influence of variable temperature combinations viz. 32 & 22°C, 32 & 24°C, 32 & 26°C, 35 & 22°C, 35 & 24°C and 35 & 26°C (maximum & minimum) maintained for 12: 12 hours, on developmental and reproductive physiology of the white backed plant hopper, Sogatella furcifera (Horvath), a serious sucking insect pest of rice in Punjab was studied. The survival of nymphs caged on rice variety PR 121 maintained at combination of 32 & 24°C was observed to be significantly higher (95%) than those at 35 & 22°C and 32 & 22°C (90 and 88%, respectively) while it was minimum at 35 & 26°C (61%). The period of nymphal development was maximum (17.7 days) at combination of 32 & 22°C and minimum (9.78 days) at 35 & 26°C. Growth index, a measure of suitability of temperature for growth and development was observed to be maximum at combination of 35 & 24°C (7.57). Maximum reproductive rate (198) was observed at combination of 35 & 24°C as against 99.33 at 32 & 22°C and 129.0 at 32 & 24°C. These results suggest that an increase in mean maximum and minimum temperature might potentially enhance the numbers and generations of the S. furcifera that will add to its increased menace. Top Keywords Sogatella furcifera, temperature combinations, survival of nymph, nymphal development, growth index, reproductive rate. Top |