Search

The present work was carried out at the Agricultural Cooperative Jesús Menéndez in the municipality of Encrucijada, Villa Clara, Cuba, and at the Entomophagous and Entomopathogen Reproductive Center of the sugar cane company «Abel Santamaria», of the same municipality; from November 2012 to February 2013. The aim was to determine the ethology of Diabrotica balteata (Leconte) and Cerotoma ruficornis (Oliver) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on the black, red, and white-seeded cultivars of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Cubacueto 25-9 sown in an intermediate cropping period. A random plot design with four replicas was used in both the field and laboratory experiments. The fluctuation of the leaf beetle population density was determined taking into account the crop growth stages, the maximum and minimum temperatures and the precipitations. The pest infestation intensity was evaluated by the number and size of the perforations present in 288 trifoliate leaves of 48 plants taken during the experiment. Adults were first seen during the growth stage of cotyledon joint (Vc), while the higher population levels of these leaf beetles were recorded in the growth stage V1 (first trifoliate leaf). Then, a certain stability of the leaf beetle incidence of in the crop was evidenced throughout the vegetative stages. The most affected cultivars were the white and red-seeded cultivars with over 10% of infestation, while the cultivar with black seed coat was the most tolerant to the attack of these insect pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]