Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops (2+1)

1. Peach Stem borer

1. Peach Stem borer - Sphenoptera lafertei Thomson.(Buprestidae: Coleoptera)

Damage

• The grubs feed below the bark making minute irregular galleries causing loosening and splitting of barks.
• The beetle feeds on leaves, which turn pale and dry up.
Bionomics

• The adult beetle is blackish bronze in colour measuring 10-13 mm long.
• The female lays small, spherical white eggs singly on the tree trunk and the main branches.
• The egg period is 20 days.
• The grub stage is completed in 2 months in summer and 6 months in winter.
• It pupates in a small chamber in woody tissues.
• The pupal period lasts for 8-12 days in summer.
Management
• Collect and destroy damaged shoots and branches.
• Swab trunk with carbaryl 50 WP at 0.2%.
• Spray malathion 0.1% or acephate 75 SP 2 g/litre