Insect Pests of Vegetable, Ornamental and Spice Crops (2+1)

Pea blue butterfly and Groundnut thrips

7. Pea blue butterfly, Lampides boeticus (Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera)

• Distribution: India, Myanmar, China, Japan, Europe etc.
• Host plants: Pea, Lima bean, Hyacinth bean, Snap bean, Urd bean, moong bean, pigeon pea etc.

Damage:

• Damage is caused by caterpillars
• Bore in to the buds, flowers and green pods
• Reduce the yield considerably.

Identification

• Newly emerged larva is green with yellowish tinge, black head
• The full grown larva is yellowish green to yellowish red.
• Pupa is dark brown
• Adult is a blue coloured butterfly

Life cycle

• Eggs hatch in 4-6 days
• The larva passes through five instars
• larval period varies from 22-35 days
• The pupal stage lasts for 6-7 days
• Adult longevity is 2-5 days.

Salient features

• Lay eggs on buds, flowers and green pods
• Larvae feed on developing seeds
• Five instars
• Pupation takes place on leaves or in the infested pod itself

Management:

• Carbaryl 0.1%

8. Groundnut thrips, Caliothrips indicus (Thripidae: Thysanoptera)

• Host range: Peas, cowpea, Indian bean etc.

Damage:

• Damage is caused by both nymphs and adults by feeding on cell sap
• They lacerate the leaf surface and suck the oozing sap
• White patches develop on the infested leaves
• The pest is active at flowering and both the yield and viability of the seeds are reduced
• A servere infestation results in the formation of white silvery sheens all over the leaf surface

Life cycle

• The pest is active at flowering
• On garden pea the pest has been recorded from germination stage till harvest
• Life cycle is completed in 2-4 weeks
• Several overlapping generation is a year.

Management:

• Systemic/other insecticides with low residual toxicity recommended for other pests are also effective against this pest.

Minor pests of peas:

1.	Bihar hairy caterpillar	Spilarctia (Spilosoma) obliqua (Arctiidae: Lepidoptera)
2.	Rice army worm	Mythimna separata (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
3.	Tobacco caterpillar	Spodoptera litura (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
4.	Tussock moth	Euproctis fraterna (Lymantriidae: Lepidoptera)
5.	Tussock moth	Porthesia scintillans (Lymantriidae: Lepidoptera)
6.	Pea stem borer	Grapholita (Lasperesia) torodelta (Eucosmidae: Lepidoptera)
7.	Pea stem borer	Leguminivora (Laspeyresia) tricentra (Eucosmidae: Lipidoptera)
8.	Leaf eating beetle	Madurasia obscurella ( Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera)
9.	Gujhia weevil	Tanymecus indicus (Curculionidae: Coleoptera)
10.	Cotton whitefly	Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera)
11.	Leaf hoppers	Empoasca kerri motti (Cicadellidae: Hemiptera) Empoasca binotata (Cicadellidae: Hemiptera)
12.	Sunnhemp bug	Ragmus importunitas (Miridae: Hemiptera)
13.	Coreid bug	Anoplocnemis phasiana (Coreidae: Hemiptera)
14.	Pod borers	Adisura atkinsoni Noctuidae: Lepidoptera) Exelastis atomosa (Pterophoridae: Lepidoptera) Maruca testulalis (Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera)