Role of meteorological factor in long-term population dynamics of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn., in Krasnodar area: the analysis of life tables

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn. is one of the most dangerous pests of maize. Though weather, mostly air temperature and humidity, demonstrate their important influence on distribution, population level and development terms of the European corn borer, the accuracy of forecasting models remains rather low to predict pest population dynamics. The aim of our work consists in the comparison of meteorological data with the demographic indicators characterizing long-term population fluctuations in the European corn borer to identify the most significant meteorological criteria for the forecast of pest population dynamics. Observations of insect population dynamics conducted during 1994-2018 on maize fields in vicinity of village Botanika (Gulkevichi District, Krasnodar Area; 45°12′51″ N and 40°47′41″ E) during 1994-2018, and data obtained in 2018 were only used for verification of the dependence established on data array for 1994-2017. We estimated density of insect population at all stages of life cycle from egg to adult...