Morphometrics of Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) on Cotton as Influenced by Temperature

Abstract

The morphometry of life stages of the pink boll worm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) was evaluated at four temperature levels of 20, 25, 30 and 35°C to assess the impact of temperature. Measurement of larval head capsule width, body length, body width and weight on cotton at 20°C were 0.68, 0.87, 0.98 and 1.24 mm, 2.27, 5.80, 7.46 and 10.60 mm, 1.08, 1.58, 1.68 and 2.53 mm and 0.40, 2.84, 24.42 and 64.21 mg for I, II, III and IV larval instars, respectively. The mean pupal length and weight of male and female varied significantly when reared at different temperature levels.