Insect Pests of Vegetable, Tuber and Spice Crops

Ginger

1. Shoot borer, Dichocrosis punctiferalis (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera)
Damage:

• It is a serious pest of ginger
• Damage is done by the caterpillars
• bore into the central shoots of the plant
• Affected plants turns yellow and dry up

Management

• This pest can be controlled by cutting and removing the affected shoots and spraying the crop with malathion (0.05%).

2. Cotton thrips or onion thrips, Thrips tabaci (Thripidae: Thysanoptera)

• Distribution: Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra.
• Discussed under pests of onion

3. Spice beetle, Stegobium paniceum (Anobiidae: Coleoptera)
Damage

• The grubs and adults feed on dry ginger in ware houses
• The grubs tunnel rhizomes by cutting microscopic holes and continues feeding from inside

Management

• This pest can be controlled by giving a heat treatment (54-66oC for 6 h) to rhizomes.
• Dusting of warehouse with pyrethrin also controls this pest.

Minor pests of ginger

• Scale, Aspidiotus hartii (Diaspidae: Hemiptera)
• Termeric skipper, Udaspes folus (Hesperidae: Lepidoptera)
• Maggots:
  
• Calobata sp. (Micropezidae : Diptera)
• Chalcidomyia atricornis (Chloropidae : Diptera)
• Formasina flavipes (Chloropidae : Diptera)
• Celyphus sp. (Celyphidae : Diptera)

• Weevil, Hedychrous rufofasciatus (Curculionidae : Coleoptera)