Impact of abiotic factors on population build up of Pyrilla perpusilla and Epiricania melanoleuca on Sorghum

Abstract

The field trial was laid out in the research area of Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad during 2010. Aim of this study was to evaluate impact of weather factors on population dynamics of Pyrilla perpusilla, Epiricania melanoleuca and percentage parasitism of E. melanoleuca on P. perpusilla in sorghum. The results revealed that maximum population of P. perpusilla and E. melanoleuca per plant was recorded in the 2nd fortnight of September and 1st fortnight of October, respectively. It was also observed that population of P. perpusilla and E. melanoleuca and percentage parasitism had negative and significant correlation with temperature and non-significant correlation with Relative humidity. Regression models indicated that maximum variation in P. perpusilla and E. melanoleuca population was contributed by temperature rather than relative humidity, while the relative humidity attributed maximum role in parasitism percentage variation.