Ovipositionchoice of Two Lepidopteran Pests to Endophyte-Infect and Endophyte-Free Cotton Plants

Ovipositionchoice of two lepidopteran pests to endophyte-infect and endophyte-free cotton plants

Entomopathogenic/nematophagousendophytes, possess a synergistic effect of providing protection to its host plants against herbivorous insects or nematodes. Studies have stated that the plants infected by an entomopathogenic fungus could affect the survivorship, development of the insects, while reducing plant damage, however few studies on the influence of fungal endophytesto the oviposition choice, although volatiles compounds emanating from plants infected by fungal endophytes changed significantly, which played an important role in the oviposition choice of adult insects. In this study, we tested oviposition choice of  two Lepidoptera pests, beet armyworm and cotton bollworm to cotton plants infected with six fungal endophytes, Beauveria bassiana, Paecilomyces lilacinus Chaetomium globosum, Epicoccum, Cladosporium, Cochliobolus and not respectively.