Abstract :
Market survey and laboratory experiments were conducted to obtain more reliable estimates of cowpea weight loss caused by individual Callosobruchus maculatus. In both the market survey and laboratory experiments, a highly significant inverse linear relationship existed between C. maculatus feeding/emergence holes and cowpea weight loss (P 0.001, linear correlation coefficients (r) = -0.322,-0.959, and –0.921, for the market survey, laboratory experiments 1 and 2, respectively). Cowpea weight losses were 0.026g, 0.015g, and 0.016g per individual C. maculatus in the market survey, laboratory experiments 1 and 2, respectively while the highest number of C. maculatus feeding/emergence holes was 188, 1669, and 2028 per 200 cowpea seeds for the market survey, laboratory experiments 1 and 2, respectively. This is an important component in the establishment of an Economic Injury Level (EIL) for C. maculatus on V. unguiculata.
