PESTS OF PULSES :: Major Pests :: Termites

9. Termites: Odontotermes obesus (Termitidae: Isoptera)

Host plants – wheat, barley, sugarcane, pea, sorghum, pearl millet, maize, groundnut. Damage symptoms: Termite damage starts soon after sowing and continues till the growing stage.  The leaves of damaged plants droop down which later wither and dry. Such plants are easily uprooted.  Bionomics: 7-10 days after aerial flight the female lays the first batch of eggs numbering 100-130.   These eggs hatch in 40-42 days.  The female termite then swells to become queen and lays upto 30,000 eggs per day.  The members of this group are social insects and are composed of workers, soldiers, king and queen.

Management 

1. Where the pest is of regular occurrence the soil should be mixed with endosulfan 4D or quinolphos 1.5 D or chlorpyriphos 5 D BHC or 10 D @ 35 kg/ha at the time of sowing.
2. f the incidence of pest is noticed in standing crop dilute 2.5 L of endosulphan 35 EC or chlorpyriphos 20EC in 5 L of water and mix it with 50 kg of soil and broabcast even in 1 ha followed by light irrigation.