The Effect of pH on the Hatching Success Rate of Plutella xylostella Eggs

Despite farm pests being a widely researched topic and prominent issue, there is lacking research on ways to prevent extremely resistant pests from destroying farms. The purpose of this study was to determine if the hatching rates of Plutella xylostella eggs were affected by an environmental change in pH. It was hypothesized that when subjected to acidic or alkaline pH levels, compared to neutral levels, the hatching success rate of Plutella xylostella eggs will decrease due to unfavorable hatching conditions. In order to conduct this experiment, the eggs were placed into empty petri dishes and sprayed with their respective solutions. They were then left to incubate for 7 days, and the number of eggs hatched was counted and recorded. The results of a one-way ANOVA test with an alpha value of 0.05 suggests that there were significant differences between the hatching rates of the control group and both experimental groups, f=21.41, p<0.05. Thus, it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that there is a difference in the hatching success rates of the Plutella xylostella eggs.