PROOF Bulletin of Insectology 61 (2): 291-297, 2008 ISSN 1721-8861 291 Development and demographic parameters of the carob moth Apomyelois ceratoniae on four diet regimes Ali NOROUZI, Ali Asghar TALEBI, Yaghoub FATHIPOUR Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Abstract The carob moth, Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) (Lepidoptera Pyralidae), is a serious pest of pomegranate in Iran and a well known pest of many fruits from a wide range of plant families as well as dried fruits during storage. Development and demo- graphic parameters of A. ceratoniae were studied in a growth chamber at temperature of 30 ± 1 °C, relative humidity of 75 ± 5% and a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) on fruits of pomegranate, pistachio, fig, and date. The results indicated that mean generation times were 42.38 ± 0.47, 45.24 ± 0.42, 57.83 ± 1.19 and, 89.55 ± 1.48 days on pomegranate, pistachio, fig and, date, respectively. The gross fecundity rate on pistachio was higher than those on three other diets. The net reproductive rate (R o ) was calculated to be lowest on date (3.64 ± 0.59) and highest on pistachio (45.74 ± 4.17). The net reproductive rates on four diets differed signifi- cantly. The highest and lowest amounts of the intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) were observed on pomegranate (0.107 ± 0.013) and date (0.018 ± 0.002), respectively. The r m values were significantly different among four diets. The highest estimated doubling time was 37.46 ± 5.82 days on date. Our findings showed that the reproduction and population growth parameters of the carob moth on fruits of pomegranate and pistachio were higher than those obtained on fig and date. Key words: Apomyelois ceratoniae, diet, life table, reproduction, population parameters. Introduction The carob moth, Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller), also known as date moth, is an important pest attacking fruit trees and nut crops throughout the world (Gothilf, 1984; Warner, 1988). It is a major field pest of pomegranate, Punica granatum L. (Al-Izzi et al., 1985), pistachio, Pistacia vera L. (Dhouibi, 1982; Mehrnejad, 1993), date, Phoenix dactylifera L. (Echlin, 1982), almond, Prunus dulcis (Mill.) (Gothilf, 1984), but there are a few records of its damage on other host plants such as fig, Ficus carica L. (Shakeri, 1993), walnut, Juglans nigra L. (Balachowsky, 1975), dried fruits, nuts, as well as other non-economic plants of a wide range of plant families (Doumandji-Mitiche and Doumandji, 1982). The carob moth is a well-known pest of date (Deglet Noor variety) in Algeria (Lepiger, 1963; Wertheimer, 1958) and Tunisia (Dhouibi, 1982), where it infested dates in field and in storage. Since the "Deglet Noor" variety comprise 85% of the date crop in the Coachella Valley (USA) (Nixon and Carpenter, 1978), control of this pest is economically important to date growers. The carob moth poses a serious economic threat to the date industry. During the past 25 years, the carob moth cau- sed from 10-40% damage in the harvestable crop annu- ally (Nay et al., 2006; Warner, 1988). The date fruits do not become infested until they begin to ripen (Lepiger, 1963; Wertheimer, 1958). The larvae then enter the date by crawling beneath the calyx. There may be some ol- factory stimuli that attract the larvae to the calyx (Dhouibi, 1982). In Iran up to 60412 hectares of pomegranate orchards have been cultured in recent years (Shakeri, 2004). The high quality of pomegranates in Iran has made it an im- portant export commodity. The most important pest on pomegranate fruits is carob moth, A. ceratoniae. Its lar- vae feed inside the fruit and highly affects fruit quality, making the fruit unmarketable and unfit for human con- sumption (Shakeri, 2004). Adult carob moths begin to emerge from early May in Iran, preferably attacks po- megranate first. Apparently, pomegranate fruits provide suitable conditions for oviposition of the carob moths. This may be because of the physical condition of pome- granate neck that protects the eggs and leads larvae to the inside of the fruit. After completing some genera- tions on pomegranate, as soon as other host plants pro- vide suitable conditions for laying eggs such as the grooves and tracks that occur on pistachio (Mehrnejad, 1992), some individuals may attack those host plants in addition to pomegranate. In many parts of pistachio growing area in Iran, up to 10% of pistachio nuts in- fested by carob moth at harvesting time annually. This insect is able to continue its damage when the nuts are stored under storage conditions. Its maximum activity found to be during September and November in Rafsan- jan, the central part of Iran. Adult moths cannot attack to un-cracked hull nuts, however the larvae can pene- trate into un-cracked shell from stem end. It appears that the carob moth spend several generations on alternate hosts, mainly pomegranate before pistachio nuts crack- ing of hulls (Mehrnejad, 1993). The carob moth is commonly found in pomegranate orchards in Iran, but there are only a few records of its damage on other host plants such as fig (Shakeri, 1993). In Iran, this pest controlled by collecting and burning infected pomegranate fruits at the end of growing sea- son that reduces overwintering sites (Behdad, 1991). However, infected pomegranates may not be the only sites for overwintering of A. ceratoniae and collecting them may not effectively prevent overwintering (Mozaf- farian et al., 2007). This control method has also been used for controlling the pest on other fruit such as date (Warner et al., 1990). Although, damage of this pest on some hosts especially