PESTS OF CHILLIES, ONION AND

GARLIC, AMARANTHUS AND

MORINGA
Theory Lecture No. 13
 Fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera
Noctuidae: Lepidoptera
Distribution: Cosmopolitan- found throughout the
world.
Period of activity:
• Low temperature, high rainfall favours high
incidence.
• The pest is active from July-October and
February-April.
Host range: Redgram, chickpea, green gram, black
gram, cowpea, cotton, groundnut, tomato, chillies,
maize, sorghum, tabacco, ragi, marigold,
chrysanthemum etc.
 Nature and symptoms of damage
• Young larvae feed - young foliage - full grown
caterpillars attack fruits.
• Caterpillar bore circular holes on fruits - thrust
only a part of their body inside - eats inner
contents.
• The entry holes are large - circular at the base
of the fruits.
Symptoms
 Pest Identification
• Egg: Sub spherical with ribs,
sculptured, white or creamy white,
singly laid on tender shoots, leaves
and fruits - 2-6 days.
• Larva: Greenish with dark broken
greylines along the sides of the
body measured 3.5 cm in length
13-19days.
• Pupa: Inside soil - earthern cell
inside debris also.
• The pupal period lasts 8-15 days
 Pest Identification
• Adult: Stout, yellowish brown
with a dark speck area on the
forewings -greyish wavy lines -
black kidney shaped mark
• Hind wings are whitish with
blackish patch along the outer
margin.
• Life cycle: Total life cycle is
completed in 27-45 days.
• There may be as many as 8
generations in a year
• ETL: 10 % infested shoot or
fruits – one egg or one
larva/plant
 Management
• Collection and destruction of damaged fruits
and grown up caterpillars.
• Use of ovipositional trap crops such as
marigold @ 100 plants/acre 1 row of marigold
for every 18 rows of chilli and collection of
larvae from flowers.
• Growing intercrops such as cowpea, onion,
maize, coriander, urdbean in 5 or 4:1 ratio
• Avoid monocropping
 Management
• Optimizing the use of nitrogen fertilizer which will
not favour the multiplication of the pest
• Install pheromone traps - distance of 50 m@ 5
traps per acre.
• Erecting of bird perches for encouraging
predatory birds.
• Application of Nuclear polyhedrosis virus – 3 X 10
12 POB/ha in evening hours at 7th and 12th week

after sowing.
• Release egg parasitoid, Trichogramma spp at 6.5
CC/ha at 15 days interval 3 times from 45 DAS.
 Management
• Releasing Chrysoperla zastrowi silemii @ 1000 grubs/ha from
30 DAP at weekly coinciding with flowering.
• Encourage activity of parasitoids, Eucelatoria bryoni,
Campoletis chelonus, Tetrasticus israeli
• Spray any of the chemicals in alternate
– Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 220 g/ha
– Flubendiamide 20 WG @ 250 g/ha
– Azdiractin 1.0 %
– Spinosad 45 SC @167 ml/ha
– Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 333-400ml/ha
– Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @125 ml/ha
– Novaluron 10 EC @ 375 ml/ha
 Stem Borer, Euzophera perticella
Phycitidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution: Recorded all over the Indian subcontinent
• Host range: Chilli and tomato
Nature and symptom of damage:
• Larva bores - main stem of both young - old plants and
moves downwards.
• Top shoots of young plants droop and wither.
• Bore holes are seen - stem and leaf axils - covered with
excreta.
• In older plants the symptoms seen are stunted growth
and
• Plants - weak - the fruit bearing capacity –
affected.
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: Laid singly or in batches - young
leaves, petioles - tender branches.
EP: 3-10 days
• Larva: Yellowish or light brown with
red head and LP:26-58 days
• Pupa: Pupates within a silken cocoon
inside larval tunnel - 9-15 days
• Adult: Greyish brown forewing with
transverse lines in the middle and
white hind wings
• Life cycle: Completed in 35-80 days.
 Management
• Collect and destroy affected terminal shoots, leaves, flower buds and
fruit having boreholes.
• Install light trap 1/ha to attract and kill adults.
• Dip the roots of seedlings for three in imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 1 ml/lit
before tranplanting.
• Uproot and burn old plants as they harbour borers and carry
infestation from crop to crop and season to season.
• Avoid using insecticides at the time of fruit maturation stage and
harvest
• Spray any one of the following in alternate:
– Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 200g/ha
– Azdiractin 1.0 %
– Thiodicarb 75 WP @ 625 ml/ha
– Spinosad 45 SC @ 167 ml/ha
– Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 517ml/ha
– Thiacloprid 21.7 SC @ 750 ml/ha
– Cypermethrin 25 EC @ 150-200ml/ha
Tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura
Noctuidae: Lepidoptera
• Category: Polyphagous pest
• Distribution: Cosmopolitan and widely
distributed
• Host range: Tobacco, banana, citrus, cabbage,
cauliflower, castor, cotton, maize, bhendi,
sorghum etc.
• Nature and symptoms of damage: Larva feed
voraciously during night and hide in the
morning. Entire crop is defoliated overnight
 Pest identification and life cycle
• Egg: Dirty white coloured eggs - cluster on
the under surface of the leaves - covered
with brown hair. EP: 3-4 days
• Larva: Pale brown with a greenish to violet
tinge. There are yellow and purplish spots
present in the sub-marginal area. LP: 20-28
days.
• Pupa: Pupation takes place in soil - earthen
cocoon for 7-11 days
• Adult: Adults are stout with wavy white
markings on the brown fore wings and white
hind wings having brown patch along its
margin
• Life cycle: Completed in 30-40 days during
summer and 120-140 days in winter season
 Indigo or lucerne caterpillar Spodoptera
exigua , Noctuidae : Lepidoptera
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Larva is velvetty black in colour
with black longitudinal mid
dorsal and sub dorsal bands and
yellowish pink lateral band on
either side.
• Adult is a dark brown stout
moth.
• The larva defoliates and the
fruits are also bored.
 Management
• Plough the soil to expose and kill pupae
• Grow castor along border and irrigation channels as
indicator or trap crop
• Setup light trap at 1/ha or pheromone traps at 15/ha
with Pherodin SL lure
• Hand pick grown-up larvae and kill them.
• Spray SlNPV for S. litura at 500 LE or 1.5x 1012 POB’s/ha
along with teepol 1ml/l in evening hours
• Spray any one the following chemicals, spinosad 45 SC
@ 167 ml/ha, indoxacarb 14.5 SC 517 ml/ha, novaluron
10 EC @ 375 ml/ha and emamectin benzoate 5 SG
220g/ha, flubendiamide 480 SC 100 ml/ha or
spinetoram 11.7 SC 470-500 ml/ha.
 Chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis
Thripidae: Thysanoptera
• Category: Major pest.
• Economic importance: Transmit leaf curl virus
disease and yield loss varies from 25-50 per cent.
• Period of activity: Severe during summer season.
• Host range: Tea, Acacia, Prosopis, castor, cotton,
mango, onion, groundnut, pomegranate, pulses,
brinjal, grapes, citrus and weeds
 Nature and symptoms of damage
• Nymphs and adults lacerate tissues - desap - imbibing
sap.
• They prefer tender leaves - growing parts of shoots.
• Infested leaves develop crinkles - curl upward -
ultimately shed.
• The buds become brittle and drop down.
• Severely infested plants develop bronze colour.
• If affected at the early stage, plants remain stunted in
growth.
• Flower production and fruit formation are adversely
arrested.
• They transmit leaf curl disease.
Symptoms
 Pest identification
• Egg: Adults lay 75-100 minute dirty white eggs
inside the leaf veins.
• Nymphs and adults: Tiny, slender, fragile and
yellowish in colour.
• Adults have heavily fringed wings and uniformly
grey in colour.
• They reproduce sexually and parthenogenetically.
• Life cycle is 12-22 days
• ETL: 2 thrips per leaf
 Management
• Sprinkle water over the seedlings to check the
multiplication.
• Do not grow chilli after sorghum as chilli grown after
sorghum is more susceptible to thrips
• Encourage the activity of predaceous thrips, Scolothrips
indicus and Franklinothrips megalops in the field.
• Inter crop with Sesbania grandiflora, to provide barrier
which regulate the thrips population.
• Do not follow chilli and onion mixed crop –both the crops
attacked by thrips.
• Root dipping of seedlings in Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC at
0.05 % solution for 20 minutes prior to transplanting to give
protection upto 30 days.
 Management
• Seed treatment with imidacloprid 70 WS @ 400-
600 g/100 kg seed.
Spray any of the following insecticides:
• Acetamiprid 20 SP @ 50g/ha,
• Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 200g/ha,
• Fenezaquin 10 EC @ 1250 ml/ha,
• Fipronil 5 SC @ 800 ml/ha,
• Fipronil 80 WG @ 50 g/ha or
• Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 125-200 ml/ha or
• Thiacloprid 21.7 SC @ 225-300 ml/ha.
 Aphid, Aphis gossypii
Aphididae: Hemiptera
• Distribution: Cosmopolitan
Period of activity:
• Summer drought favour the spread of this pest
• Pests active June-October, February – April
• Optimal temperature – 25-300C
• Cool weather and humid condition favour the
rapid growth
• Heavy rains – washes away – aphid colonies
• Low light is favourable- strong light reduces-
longevity
Nature of damage:
• Both adults and nymphs suck sap - tender leaves, twigs
and buds and weakens the plants.
• Nymphs and adults desap on young crop in colonies on
leaf under surface.
• Tender leaves, shoots, flowering parts are colonized by
nymphs and adults
Symptoms of damage:
• Tender leaves curl up, cup-like, reduced in size,
gradually fade and dry up.
• Plant growth severely stunted.
• Leaves show oily appearance with the exuviae of the
aphids.
• Sooty mould develops - honey dew - lower leaves.
Symptoms
 Biology
• Yellowish/greenish brown in colour – alate &
apterous forms – reproduce –
Parthogenetically and viviparous
• 20 nymphs/day – nymphs -4moults
• Life cycle: 7-9 days
• ETL – 15 % infested plants
 Management
• Avoid late sowing
• Excessive use N fertilizer
• Destroy infested shoot- early stages
• Use yellow sticky trap @ 15 traps/ha to attract and kill adults.
• Release predator- Chrysoperla zastrowii silemi or Coccinella
septumpunctate or Syrphus sp
• Seed treatment with imdiacloprid 70 WS (5g/kg seed) keeps the
crop free of sucking pests over a month.
• Use Verticillium lecanii commercial formulation against aphids of
green houses
 Management
• Apply chemical pesticides only if pest
population crosses the ETL
• Spray any of the following chemicals:
Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 200ml/ha or
Spirotetramat 150 OD @ 500ml/ha or
Spiromesifen 240 SC @ 500ml/ha or
Acetamiprid 20 SP @ 50g/ha or
 Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci
Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera
• Distribution: Cosmopolitan
• Host range: Polyphagous pest
Symptoms of damage:
• The nymphs and adults feed - cell sap reduce the
vitality of the plant interfering with normal
photosynthesis .
• Green nymphs present in colonies on leaf under
surface desap the plants.
• Chlorotic spots develop on leaves
• Severe cases the veins become translucent, thickened
and in many cases it drops off prematurely.
 Biology
• Eggs: laid singly – under surface of leaves
• Nymphs: Pale yellow
• Adults: yellowish with waxy coating on the
body
• ETL: 5-10 nymphs and adults/leaf
 Management
• Grow chilli in rotation with non-host crops like cereals to
deprive continuous food supply to the pest
• Remove alternate weed hosts
• Use nitrogen and irrigation judiciously
• Set up the yellow sticky traps
• Spray FORS (Fish Oil Rosin Soap) 2.5 % or neem oil 0.5 %
• Spray any of the following chemicals
– Imidacloprid 17.8 SL@ 200ml/ha
– Spirotetramat 150 OD @ 500ml/ha
– Acetamiprid 20 SP @ 50g/ha
– Difenthiuron 50 WP @ 600 g/ha
– Pyriproxyfen 10 EC @ 500 ml/ha
– Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 200 ml/ha
– Fenpropathrin 30 EC @ 250 ml/ha
– Fipronil 5 SG @ 800 ml/ha.
 Greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes
vaporarium Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera
• Distribution: Cosmoplitan
• Host: Polyphagous
Nature of damage and symptoms:
• Both by nymphs and adults cause the damage.
They suck the cell sap from leaves which result in
yellowing and dry away of leaves.
• Nymphs also excrete honey dew on which sooty
mould develops
• Photosynthesis of the plants is reduced.
 Bionomics
• Egg: 0.2 to 0.25 mm, staked eggs remain
under surface on lower surface of the leaf.
• Nymph: The newly emerged nymphs are light
yellow in colour. NP: 3 to 8 days
• Adult: Small insects with white coloured
wings.
• The total life cycle is completed in 15 to 32
days.
 Management
• Protect the nursery by using nylon nets (200
mesh) for 25 – 30 days.
• The pest can be controlled by imidacloprid
17.8 SL at 0.00075 %
 Chilli muranai mite, Polyphagotarsonemus
latus Tasronemidae: Acarina
• Category: Serious pest.
• Also called as broad mite, yellow mite
• Distribution: Throughout India
• Period of activity: Prevalence is more during
summer months which coincide with
flowering.
• Host range: Tea, potato, cotton, jute, pulses,
brinjal, cluster bean, gingelly, chrysanthemum.
 Nature and symptoms of damage
• The nymphs and adults feed on the cell sap -
undersurface of the leaves, near veins and vein lets.
• Infested tender leaves - become narrow, lean and
lanky with lateral downward folding, turn pale, under
sized and become cluster at tip of branches.
• Petiole of lower leaves become extremely elongated
with narrow lamina - exhibit rat-tail symptoms.
• Leaves turn rough - brittle - called as Murda
disease.
• Infested plants are stunted.
Symptoms
 Pest identification
• Eggs: Gravid females lay small spherical eggs
on the under surface of tender leaves.
• Nymphs: Nymphs and adults are minute (0.2
to 0.4 mm) and do not form webs.
• Body is broad, faint yellow or white in colour.
• They are spread by wind, phoretic insects and
through contact -plant surface.
• ETL: 5-10 nymphs & adults/leaf.
 Management
• Collect and destroy damaged leaves
• Spray any of the following chemicals:
Chlorfenapyr 10 SC @ 750 ml/ha,
Spiromesifen 22.9 SC @ 400 ml/ha,
Difenthiuron 50 WP @ 600 g/ha,
Fenpropathrin 30 EC @ 250 ml/ha,
Fenpyroximate 5 EC @ 300 ml/ha,
• Ethion 50 EC @ 1500 m/ha and
• Milbemectin 1 EC @ 325 ml/ha.
 Onion thrips, Thrips tabaci
Thripidae: Thysanoptera
• Category: Cosmopolitan and major pest
• Distribution: South east and Central Europe, Russia, India,
Java, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada
• Host range: Bhendi, chillies, brinjal, onion, garlic, tomato,
sunflower, mango, citrus, tea
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Nymphs and adults remain - group at leaf and whorls -
lacerate tissues - imbibe oozing plant sap.
• Infested leaves develop a spot on the leaves - turn into pale
white blotches.
• On severe damage - leaves dry from tip downwards.
• Bulb development - severely affected.
• Leaves shrivel - ragged edges brittle - silvery metallic streak
on leave surface.
Symptoms of damage
 Pest identification
• Eggs: Laid only in the tender leaf.
Female lay 40 to 50 eggs – hatch in 9
days
• Adults - slender, yellowish brown
1mm long.
• The tip of the abdomen - curved -
abdominal segments - transversely
banded with dark brown lines.
• Males are wingless - females have a
long narrow strap like wings, fringed
with hairs.
• Nymphs - smaller in size - blackish in
colour.
• Life cycle: 11 to 21 days
 Management
• Ensure clean cultivation, regular hoeing and flooding of
infested field to check thrips population.
• Avoid successive planting of onion or other
preferred/alternate host such as cabbage, cotton,
tomato, cucumber, melons, pumpkins, strawberries
etc.
• Use of sprinkler irrigation reduces thrips population
considerably compared to drip and surface irrigation
• Plant two rows of maize and outer row of maize
surrounding the garlic/onion plots as barrier crop.
• Seedling root dip: dip the seedlings (bottom 1/3 ) in
carbosulfan 25 EC (2ml/L) solution for 2h before
transplanting.
 Management
• Conserve predators such as syrphid flies, anthocorid
bug predatory thrips (Aeolothrips fasciatum),
lacewings, coccinellids (Cheilomenes sexmaculata),
spiders etc.,
• Install sky blue colour sticky traps@ 25/ha.
• Spray any one of the following insecticides:
• Fipronil 80 WG @ 75 g/ha or
• Lamda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 300ml/ha or
• Cartap hydrochloride 50 SP @ 1000 g/ha or
• Fipronil 5 SC @ 800 ml/l or
• Imidacloprid 18.7 SL @ 100 ml/ha or
• Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 100 g/ml or
 Onion fly, Delia antique Meigen
Muscidae: Diptera
Distribution: All over India
Host: Garlic and Onion
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Small maggots burrow into the stem and bulbs.
• They make small cavities which results rotting of
bulbs in storage.
• Due to the damage plants get withered and make
them rot.
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: Laid - soil near the base
of onion plants.
• Elongated - white - colour , EP:
2-7 days.
• Maggot: White and apodous
and completed in 14-20 days
• Pupa: Pupate in soil - lasts for
14-30 days.
• Adult: Slender, greyish fly with
large wings.
 Management
• Grow Allium fistulosum as it is more tolerant than
A. cepa.
• Adopt proper crop rotation with non host crops
like cereals
• Basal application of 250 kg of neem cake check
the maggot population.
• Apply imidacloprid 17.8 SL 100-125 ml/ha or
• Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 150 ml/lit or
• Indoxacarb 15.8 EC @ 330 ml/lit or
• Cypermethrin 10 EC @ 500-800 ml/ha.
 Ear wigs, Eubrellia stali and Anisolabis
stali Labiduridae: Dermaptera
• Host range: Groundnut and
cabbage
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Nymphs and adults bore into
onion bulb - feed internal
contents - make them rot.
Identification and life cycle:
• Adults have forceps like caudal
cerci.
• Eggs - laid - small earthern
chamber below stones or debris.
• Nymphs and adults - dark brown in
colour.
 Management
Biology: Anisolabis stali
• Adult female lays 21-139 eggs, egg period 14
days.
• Nymphs white in the early stage turn brown in
the later stage, nymphal period 50 -54 days.
Management:
• Soil application of Carbosulfan 6G @ 15 kg on 20
days after sowing and earthed up.
• Basal application of FYM 25 t/ha or 250 kg on 20
days after sowing and earthed up.
 Bulb mite: Rhizoglyphus robini
Sarcoptiformes: Acaridae
Nature and symptoms of
damage:
• Bulbs infested with bulb mites
may rot- fail to produce new
growth, or new growth may be
off colour, stunted, and
distorted.
• Once the mites are inside the
bulb, they rapidly turn the bulbs
into rotten pulp.
Symptoms
 Life cycle
• Egg: The eggs mature in 3 to 5
days. The egg is white and
translucent, 0.12 mm long, and
ellipsoidal.
• Larva: Larval period is 3 to 7 days.
• Adult: Their bodies are shiny,
white, somewhat transparent, and
smooth with reddish brown
appendages.
• The total life cycle from egg to
adult could be as short as 12 days.
Eriophyid mite: Aceria tulipae (Keifer)
Eriophyidae: Acarina
Nature and symptoms of damage
• Both adults and immatures feed on the young
leaves and between the layers in cloves of
garlic.
• Their feeding causes stunting, twisting, curling
- discoloration of foliage - scarification and
drying of bulb tissue.
 Pest identification and life cycle
• Egg: Egg incubation period 2-4 days
• Nymph: Protonymphal and deutonymphal
period is 2 to 3 days, each.
• Adult: Adult mites survive about 8 days.
• Length 200 to 250 μm and width 36 to 52 μm.
• Total life cycle 7 to 9 days.
 Management
• Avoid planting garlic after cole crops - cauliflower,
may harbour very high bulb mite populations in
the field.
• Avoid planting successive onion or garlic crops.
• Flood irrigation reduces mite levels in the soil.
• Conserve predators such as anthocorid bugs
(Orius spp.), mirid bugs, predatory mites
(Amblyseius fallacies and Phytoseiulus persimilis)
etc
 Management
• Spraying any one of the following chemicals
• Spiromesifen 22.9 SC @ 400 ml/ha,
Difenthiuron 50 WP @ 600 g/ha,
Fenpropathrin 30 EC @ 250 ml/ha,
Fenpyroximate 5 EC @ 300 ml/ha,
• Ethion 50 EC @ 1500 m/ha
PESTS OF AMARANTHUS
 Amaranthus stem weevil, Hypolixus
truncatulas Curculionidae: Coleoptera
Distribution: Widely distributed
in India
Period of activity: Active in winter
- completes 3 to 4 broods in a
year
Nature and symptoms of damage
• Grubs bore into stems - feed
the internal tissues, - zigzag
tunnels - fill them with their
excreta
• Affected stems become weak -
split longitudinally
• Damaged plants - desiccated and dried up
completely.
• Severe infestation - stunting of plants, twisting
& swelling of branches and stems
• Suppression of shoot and leaf production
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: Adult females bite circular holes
in stems - smooth, oval and pale
yellow eggs singly Eggs:4-8 days
• Grub: stout, curved, white apodous
grubs, GP: 12-24 days
• Pupa: Form a greyish brown hard
compact chamber - pupate their -10-
20 days.
• Adult: Ash greyish - elbowed
antennae and brown elytra , 5-6
days.
 Management
• Collect and destroy wild amaranthus hosts in
the vicinity of cultivated crop.
• Collect and destroy affected plant parts along
with grubs and adults
• Soil application of carbofuran 3 G granule @
33 kg/ha
 Leaf caterpillar, Hymenia recurvalis
Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution: Tropical and sub-tropical regions of
Africa, Asia and Australia
• Period of activity: Winter, rainy
• Host range: Grasses, pastures, beans, coleous,
melon, spinach, Trianthema and Acalypha
Nature and symptom of damage:
• Caterpillar web leaves - silvery silken threads and
feed within.
• Webbed leaves become completely devoid of
chlorophyll and dry up.
 Identification and life cycle
• Eggs: Spherical and snow white in
colour - singly in grooves of leaf
veins. EP: 2-3 days
• Larva: Greenish with white lines and
black crescents on thorax below
lateral lines LP: 12-14 days
• Pupa: Pupation - soil - 7 to 11 days
• Adult: Dark brownish black moth
with white waxy markings on wings
• Life cycle: Completed in 22-28 days
 Leaf webber: Eretmocera impactella
Heliodinidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution and status: Sporadic pest. Widely
distributed in the Indian sub-continent.
Damage symptoms:
• Caterpillars web leaves with white silken
threads and remain hidden in folds feeding
from inside
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: Eggs are laid on leaves or
on top shoots.
• Larva: Full-grown caterpillars
are cylindrical, brownish yellow
to brownish-grey in colour
• Pupa: Long brown pupae in
white silken cocoons
• Adult: Moths are small,
blackish with prominent yellow
spots on fore wings.
• Life cycle : 3 to 4 weeks.
 Management
• Collect and destroy affected plant parts along
with caterpillars
• Use light traps @ 1- 2 / ha to attract and kill
adults
• Spray Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki 5 %
WP at 2g/lit of water
• Spray Beaveria bassiana 1.15 WP @ 2gm/lit
 Tortoise beetle, Aspidomorpha exilis
Cassididae: Coleoptera
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Grubs and adults - scrapping outer tissue of leaves -
dried patches on leaves
Identification and life cycle:
• Eggs: Eggs masses - 40 to 60 on the underside of
leaves. Hatch in 5-12 days
• Grub: Flat and spiny, EP: 12-18 days
• Pupa: within the leaves 3-8 days
• Adult: Oval and brownish red in colour. They have
greenish shiny metallic patches on elytra in the mid
dorsal line
• Life cycle: completed in 20-32 days
 Management
• Collect and destroy affected plant parts along
with caterpillars
• Use light traps @ 1- 2 / ha to attract and kill
adults
• Spray Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki 5 %
WP at 2g/lit of water
• Spray Beaveria bassiana 1.15 WP @ 2gm/lit
 Grassshopper: Attactomorphs
crenulata, Acrididae: Orthoptera
• Category: Polyphagous
• Nature and symptom of damage: Nibble
leaves and cause irregular holes
• Identification and life cycle: Small green
coloured nymphs and long green coloured
adults nibble leaves
Management:
• In severe case attack, dust with quinalphos 1.5
D @ 25 kg/ha.
 Podfly, Gitona distigma
Drosophilidae: Diptera
• Distribution: Widely distributed in South India
• Period of activity: Maximum activity noticed from
April to October
• Host range: Monophagous pest
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Maggots enter - tender fruits by making small
hole at the distal end.
• Damage causes oozing out of gummy fluid from
fruits - results in drying of fruits from tip
downwards.
• Internal contents of the fruits rot
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: cigar shaped, sculptured white eggs on
the furrows of tender pod either singly or in
groups. EP: 3 to 4 days.
• Maggot: Cream coloured, 18 to 25 days.
• Pupa: Pupation in soil PP: 5 to 8 days
• Adult: Small yellowish fly with red eyes.
• Wings extend beyond body - dark spot near
coastal margin.
 Management
• Collect - destroy all fallen fruits by dumping in pit and
cover with a thick layer of soil to avoid carry over pest.
• Plough the field - destroy puparia - Apply quinalphos
1.5 D at 35kg/ha or drench NSKE 5 % @ 2lit/tree at
50 % fruit set
• Use attractant like citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, vinegar,
dextrose or lactic acid to trap flies
• Spray emamectin benzoate 5 SG – 10g/lit,
Flubendiamide 20 WSG – 49-60g/lit when pods are 30
days and
• apply nimbicidine 0.3 % - 3ml/lit during 50 per cent
fruit set and 30 days later
 Management
• Soil application of thiamethoxam 25 WG @
200 g a.i./ha – 150, 180 and 210 days after
sowing.
 Bud worm, Noorda moringae
Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution: South India
• Period of activity: Activity more during summer
months
• Host range: Only moringa
Nature and symptoms of damage:
• Larva bores into flower buds, feeds on tender
fruits - shedding of buds.
• Infested buds contain only one caterpillar.
• Damaged buds rarely blossom - fall down
prematurely.
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: Oval, creamy white eggs - laid in
clusters -singly on flower buds , EP:
3-4 days
• Larva: dirty brown with a prominent
mid dorsal stripe , LP: 8-15 days
• Pupa: pupate in minute brown
cocoons either in soil or on ground
below dried and debris PP: 6-10 days
• Adult: Small moth with dark brown
fore wings and white hind wings with
dark brown border
 Management
• Collect and destroy damaged and fallen buds
• Plough around the trees to expose the hiding
pupal stages inside the soil
• Keep light traps to attract and kill adults
• Spray thiodiarb 75 WP @ 0.05 % or fipronil 5
EC @ 1 ml/lit
 Leaf feeding caterpillar, Noorda
blitealis Crambidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution: Common pest in South India.
• Leaf eating caterpillar is considered to be the most
sporadic pest of annual moringa
• Period of activity: January to April
Nature of damage and symptoms:
• Larvae remain in a thin silken web on the under
surface of leaf and feed on leaflets
• Resulting in drying of leaves into papery appearance
and
• Complete defoliation in severely infested trees.
 Bionomics
• Eggs are laid in clusters of 34 to 96
usually on ventral surface of tender
leaves. EP: 3to 6 days
• Larval period is about 7- 15 days
depending upon environmental
conditions.
• It pupates in the soil and the adult
emerges in six to nine days.
• Adult is similar to N. moringae but
bigger in size.
• The moth is dark brown and the black
pattern on forewings broader and
wavy
• Total life cycle: 16- 26 days
Life cycle of N. blitealis
 Moringa hairy caterpillars

Eupterote mollifera Eupterotidae:

Lepidoptera
Metanstria hyrtaca Lasiocampidae:
Lepidoptera
Pericallia ricini Arctiidae:
Lepdioptera
Strelobote siva Lasiocampidae:
Lepidoptera
 Eupterote mollifera
Nature of damage:
• Larva feed gregariously and cause
complete defoliation
• Egg: Cluster on tender leaves. 4-6
days
• Larva: Brown and densely hairy. 12-
14 days
• Pupa: In soil 8-10 weeks
• Adult: Large moth with light yellow
brown wings having faint lines
 Metanstria hyrtaca
Lasiocampidae: Lepidoptera
• Host: It is polyphagous pest and prefer citrus
species also.
• Nature of damage:
• Caterpillars are nocturnal in habit and feed
gregariously and voraciously.
• During day time they remain crowded on
shady side of tree trunks
 Metanstria hyrtaca
• Egg: Spherical and pale white, 9-12 days
• Larva: Greyish brown, stout and hairy. 40-85 days
• Pupa: In soil. 9-17 days
• Adult: Sexual dimorphism. Grey moth. Female-
Pectinate antennae. Male- Clubbed antennae
• Life cycle: 75-110 days
 Pericallia ricini
Arctiidae: Lepidoptera
• Host: it is reported on banana, blackgram,
cotton, cucurbits, castor, cowpea, soybean,
tea and yam
• Nature of damage and symptoms:
• Caterpillar feed on leaf lamina, initially by
scrapping epidermal layers and later by
cutting lamina
 Pericallia ricini
• Egg: Cluster 4-6 days
• Lava: Dark, brown long
dark hair 26-32 days
• Pupa: In the trees or soil
10-12 days
• Adult: Stout, brown FW-
with pale black spots and
HW and abdomen
crimson with black spots
• Life cycle: 40 days
 Strelobote siva
• Distribution: This is also a polyphagous pest and
rose is the most preferred host.
• Egg: Cluster on leaves
• Larva: Pale brown with black spots and hairy
• Pupa: Soil
• Adult: Greyish, white body, FW - red brown spot
ringed white. HW - white
 Management
• Collect and destroy egg masses and caterpillars
• Use light traps to attract - kill adults immediately
after rains
• Use burning torch to kill congregating larvae on
the trunk
• Spray chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC at 1ml/lit or fish
oil rosin soap 25 g/lit on the trunks and foliage,
immediately after rain and 15 days later.
 Bark caterpillar, Indarbela tetraonis
(Moore) Metarbelidae: Lepidoptera
• Distribution: South India
• Period of activity: March to April and
December to January
• Nature and symptom of damage:
• Larva feed superficially below bark,
making zigzag galleries and later bore
inside bark - feed the internal contents.
• Silken webbed masses - chewed
wooden particles and excreta - seen
hanging loosely on the tree trunk -
cover the entry holes
• There is only one caterpillar or pupa in
each burrow, but there may be several
such holes and burrows on a single tree
 Identification and life cycle
• Egg: crack in bark, EP – 6-8 days
• Larva: Stout and dirty brown.
LP:10-11 months
• Pupa: Stout, reddish brown. PP:
14-20 days
• Adult: Pale brown medium sized
moths. For wings have prominent
brown spots and streaks. Hind
wings are white.
• There is only one generation in a
year
 Stem borer, Bactocera rubus
Cerambycidae: Coleopteran
• Distribution: Widely distributed in India
• Period of activity: Throughout the year
Nature and symptom of damage:
• Grubs make zigzag burrow beneath the bark,
feed on internal tissues, reach sapwood and
cause death of affected branches or stem.
• Pupation take place within these tunnels
 Identification and life cycle
• Eggs: cracks and crevices in bark.
EP: 1-2 days
• Grub: Stout about 10 cm, yellowish
with well-defined segmentation,
LP: 24-28 days
• Pupa: Pupate inside the trunk. PP:
12-24 weeks
• Adult: Medium sized, yellowish
brown beetles with white spots on
elytra
• Life cycle: One generation in a year
 Management
• Clean affected portion of tree by removing all
webbed material and excreta
• Insert in each hole, cotton–wool soaked in
fipronil 5 SC (10 ml/tree) or any good fumigant
like carbon disulphide, carbon tetrachloride,
chloroform - close the hole with mud after
treatment.
 Aphid, Aphis gossypii Green.
Aphididae: Hemiptera
• Distribution: Cosmopolitan
• Period of activity: Pest is active from June-
October and February-April. Cool weather and
humid conditions favour the rapid growth,
while heavy rains wash away the aphid
colonies. Bhendi, cotton, chillies, gingelly,
cucurbits, guava etc., are also damaged.
 Identification of pest
• Yellowish/greenish brown in colour.
• Alate and apterous forms parthogenetically
and are viviparous
 Management
• Remove all pods/fruits before spraying
• Destroy infested shoot during early stages
• Spray chemicals imidacloprid 17.8 SL @
200m/ha.
 Scales Ceroplastodes moringae
Coccidae: Hemiptera
• Nature and symptom of damage:
• Scale – suck the sap - presence of enormous
population weakens the trees and ultimately
its life time.
• But the size of pods and gives an ugly
appearance - reduces the taste of food.
• Produce an white powdery appearance on the
surface of pods
 Management
• Spray chemicals imidacloprid 17.8 SL @
200m/ha
 Ash Weevil, Myllocerus sp
Curculionidae: Coleoptera
• Category: Polyphagous
Nature of damage:
• White grubs feed on roots and small ash
coloured weevils,
• Adults nibble leaves - causes irregular
notching of leaf margins
 Bud midge, Stictodiplosis moringae,
Cecidomyiidae: Diptera
• Category: Minor pest
• Period of activity: Pest is active during August to
January
Nature of damage: Maggots feed on internal
tissues of buds especially on ovaries.
Identification and life cycle:
• Egg: laid in cluster in anthers within the flower
buds, Egg period: 1 to 2 days, Maggot: 6 to 9 days
and Pupa: 5 to 8 days
• Life cycle: Completed in 12 to 19 days