The failure of insecticides to control the diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) has triggered a growing interest in management techniques alternative to chemical control, such as trap crops. However, the two most commonly proposed DBM trap crops, Indian mustard Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and collard Brassica oleracea var. acephalla L., have shown contradictory results regarding their effectiveness as trap crops for DBM, sometimes successful, and sometimes unsuccessful. I order to choose the most adequate trap crop, the ovipositional preference and larval survival of DBM was tested on cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata L. and three potential trap crops: glossy collards, Brassica oleracea var. acephala L.; Indian mustard, Brassica juncea; and yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris (R. Br.). Trap crops were preferred over cabbage and neither leaf area nor plant architecture seemed to be important factors involved in this differential preference. Larval survival was highest for B. juncea and lowest for B. vulgaris, on which no larvae reached the pupal stage. Studying why trap crops work also requires an understanding of the behavior of mated DBM females when landing/ovipositing on potential hosts. Furthermore, the percentage of the cropping system that should be devoted to a particular trap crop in order to make it most effective also needs to be determined.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Plutellidae Plutella xylostella (Diamondback moth)
Keywords: oviposition preference
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