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

1. Termite - Odontotermes obseus Ramb, (Termitidae: Isoptera)

Damage

• Termites infest stems and feed internal tissues of trunks and fill with sand and excreta.
  
• Affected young plants show drying of shoots and wilting of plants.
Management

• Locate termite colony and destroy queen by physical or chemical means.
• Spray neem oil 5% once at the base up to 2 m height of the trunk for effective control.
• Destroy mound building, termites by treating with aluminnium phosphide or sulfex tablets @ 2 tablets / meter diameter of mound. Close all openings of the mound after inserting tablets.
• Mix 60 ml of chlropyriphos 20 EC in 18 I of water and pour into the mound through a hole made in the centre, or through open chimneys in case of open mounds.