Life cycle of Papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink on different host plants vis-à-vis divergent natural selection

Abstract

Life cycle of Papaya mealybug PMB Paracoccus marginatus on different host plants was studied using Age Specific (or Horizontal) and Stage Specific (or Vertical) Life Table. It showed enormous biological activity of PMB on host plants. The net reproductive rate of papaya mealybug was observed to be higher in papaya (559.48 females/female) and least in tapioca (282.53). The capacity for increase (rc) was minimum (0.324) in tapioca and maximum in papaya (0.512). Intrinsic rate of increase (rm) has increased with the increase in the rate of capacity for increase as it was maximum in papaya (0.570 increase per day), minimum in tapioca (0.342/day). The cumulative K value, total generation mortality was observed to be minimum in female than male. It was minimum in papaya 0.0325 for female and 0.0587 for male mealybug, while tapioca recorded highest K value of among the host plants (0.1405 in female and 0.1799 in male).