Journal of Entomological Research

The stage-specific life table of B. dorsalis was constructed on five widely cultivated cucurbits i.e., bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), sponge gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca), ridge gourd (L. acutangula), ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis) and snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) and interpreted in the context of quantitative variation in their respective phyto constituents. Host chemistry differed significantly among the gourds where bottle and sponge gourds recorded the highest primary metabolites (PMs) and the lowest secondary metabolites (SMs), while snake gourd exhibited the opposite trend. Bottle and sponge gourds recording the highest carbohydrates (≍60 µg mg^-1 DW) and proteins (≍16 µg mg^-1 DW) while snake gourd accumulated the greatest phenols (≍15 µg mg^-1 DW) and tannin (≍11 µg mg^-1 DW). All the population parameters in respect to the host chemicals recorded the highest growth on bottle and sponge gourds followed by ridge gourd, ivy gourd and least on the snake gourd. Intrinsic rate of increase (r_m) of B. dorsalis mirrored this gradient, ranging from 0.039 d^-1 on bottle gourd to 0.031 d^-1 on snake gourd. The integrated analysis ranked their host preference in the order of bottle gourd> sponge gourd> ridge gourd> ivy gourd> snake gourd.