In a farm, pomegranate trees were highly infested with Leopard moth,while nearby them, the olives tress were not infested at all.
Dear Hanna
I think that the reason is one of the cultivar type of both plants or the allelochemicals in both. You can read the following reference
Seaonal fluctuation of Zeuzera pyrina population on apple, pomegranate, pear, guava, pecan and olive trees in Alexandria Governorate [Egypt] [1994]
Mesbah, H.A. (Alexandria Univ., Saba-Basha (Egypt). Faculty of Agriculture)Tadros, A.W.Shehata, W.A.
with my best regards
Samy
Hello Hanna:
The host-selection and specificity behavior of Zeuzera pyrina feeding on a particular host plant is due to the coevolution and adaptation of certain species of herbivorous insects to detoxify certain allelochemical defense compounds that have certain plants to defend against herbivorous insects. This specific relationship is more remarkable in monophagous species than in polyphagous species. There is a lot of information in the literature about chemical compunds and defense mechanisms used by plants against herbivorous insects.
Factors other than the chemistry of the plant probably also contribute to the specificity of insects to certain plants like antibiosis. Antibiosis is a biological interaction between two or more organisms that is detrimental to at least one of them; it can also be an antagonistic association between an organism and the metabolic substances produced by another.
Antibiosis resistance affects the biology of the insect so pest abundance and subsequent damage is reduced compared to that which would have occurred if the insect was on a susceptible crop variety. Antibiosis resistance often results in increased mortality or reduced longevity and reproduction of the insect.
Regards,
Luis Miguel
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