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

Castor capsule borer

4. Castor capsule borer, Dichocrosis punctiferalis (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera)

Damage

• Serious pest of nursery plants and young green pods
• In nursery plants it bores into the stem and cause death of the central shoot
• It also eats away the tender seeds of young berries.

Identification

• Larvae are reddish brown with black blatches all over the body and a pale stripe on the lateral side.

Life cycle:

• Eggs hatch in about a week
• Larvae become full fed in 2-3 weeks
• Pass through 4-5 instars
• Pupal stage lasts for about a week
• Three generations in a year.

Salient features

• The moths lay eggs on leaves and soft part of the plant
• Larvae bore into the stems, berries
• Pupation takes place inside the seed or some times in frass that collects after feedings

Management:

• Collect and destroy the infested shoots and capsules
• Spray the crop with carbaryl (0.1%)

5. Cardamom hairy caterpillars:

a) Lenodera vittata (Lesiocampidae: Lepidoptera)

Hosts: commonly found feedings on cardamom in South India.

Identification

• The moth is stout, fairly big and densely covered with scales
• The larvae are clothed with a dense belt of capitate hairs
• About 106-110 mm in length
• Eggs are cream coloured, dome shaped

Damage

• Larvae are the damaging
• Feed on the leaves and other tender parts of the plant

Life cycle

• Oviposition period of 6-9 days
• Larvae emerge from the eggs in 10-13 days
• Moults six times in 112-115 days
• Pupal period is 5-7 months

Salient features

• The moths emerge during June
• Lay eggs in rows on both the upper and lower surface of the leaves
• Each female can lay 100-300 eggs
• Pupation takes place in the soil
• Only one generation in a year.

b) Eupterrote cardamomi (Eupterotidae: Lepidoptera)

• Distribution: South India
• Hosts: Cardamom

Identification

• The adults are large moths, ocherous in colour, with post medial lines on the wings
• 70-80 mm in wing expanse
• The larvae are hairy, dark grey in colour with pale brown head, bearing conical tuft of hairs on the dorsal side of the body
• Full grown the caterpillar are 90 mm in length

Damage

• The larvae feed on leaves of the shade trees up to the 6th or 7th instar
• Later on they drop down to the cardamom plants growing underneath with the help of silken threads
• Feed on the leaves voraciously and defoliate the cardamom plants
• Heavy reduction in the yield

Lifecycle

• Eggs hatch in 15-17 days
• Larva passes through ten instars
• Larval period is140-151 days
• Pupal period is 7-8 months
• The moth lives for about 20 days
• There is only one generation in a year.

Salient features

• Moths emerge with the commencement of the South West monsoon rains in June and July
• Female moth lay 400-500 eggs in flat masses on the under surface of leaves
• Each egg mass contains about 50-160 eggs
• It pupates in a silken cocoon at a depth of 5-8 cm for 7-8 months

c) Other hairy caterpillars:

• Eupterote canarica
• E. testacea
• E. fabia
• Sporadic and occasionally cause damage to cardamom plants
• The life cycle and habits are similar to earlier described species.

Management of hairy caterpillars:

• These hairy caterpillars can be controlled by spraying the crop with malathion (0.05%) or carbaryl (0.1%)