Susceptibility of mungbean varieties to the bruchid species Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), C-phaseoli (Gyll.), C-chinensis (L.), and Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say.) (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae)

Twenty-six mungbean varieties and accessions were screened for resistance to 4 bruchid species (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae). On the basis of the percentage of seeds damaged all Australian commercial mungbean varieties tested here were highly susceptible to strains of Callosobruchus maculatus and C. chinensis, the 2 species that cause most damage worldwide to mungbean in storage. In addition, 3 accessions of wild mungbean appeared to have bruchid resistance. The texture layer present on the seed coat of some mungbean varieties and small seed size may act as oviposition deterrents. Consequently, these assays for determining resistance to bruchid infestation may not be suitable for identifying biochemical resistance of some mungbean genotypes.