Abstract
The efect of resistant and susceptible maize lines on behaviour and establishment of the neonate Chilo partellus larva was studied. Larval behaviour was categorized according to plant acceptibility. More larvae showed a higher acceptance for the susceptible Inbred A than the resistant Inbred G and ICZ2-CM lines. Larval behaviour suggested that certain conditioning stimuli were central to larval acceptance or rejection of the plant on which eggs were laid. Other stimuli guide larvae to the whorls where feeding usually commences. Analyses of plant surface extracts suggested that different chemical characteristics played a certain role in larval acceptance of these plants. Implications of the possible use of such characteristics as indices in the selection of maize material resistant to Chilo partellus are discussed.
