Screening of Potential Sources of Resistance to Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in 24 Sugar Beet Genotypes

Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) is one of the polyphagous pests destroying crops such as sugar beet worldwide. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the resistance of 24 sugar beet genotypes to S. exigua. In this study, nine sugar beet cultivars (Dorotea, Tous, Persia, Silenta, Jaam, HM1339RZ, Jolgeh, Ekbatan, and SBSI006), three hybrids ((7112* SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-5, (7112*SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-15, and (7112*SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-16), four lines (FC201, FC301, FC220, and FC221), and eight populations (SB26, SB27, SB28, SB29, SB30, SB33, SB34, and SB35) were assessed. The experiments were performed under laboratory conditions at 25 +/- 1(circle)C, 60 +/- 5% RH, and a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) h using age-stage, two-sex life table procedure. The larval period ranged from 17.09 d on FC301 to 14.47 d on SB30. The total fecundity (F) was highest on (7112*SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-5 (905.13 eggs) and lowest on FC301 (r.0.104 d(-1) ,lambda: 1.11 d(-1)) SB26 (r: 0.185 d(-1), lambda: 1.203 d(-1)) and FC220 (r: 0.114 d(-1), lambda: 1.12 d(-1)) had no significant difference with (7112* SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-5 and FC301, respectively. The comparison of demographic parameters of S. exigua on 24 sugar beet genotypes suggested that FC220 and FC301 were the most resistant and (7112*SB36)* Sh-1-HSF-5 and SB26 were the most susceptible genotypes to this pest.