Post of cotton & Sugarcane Spotted Boll Worm Pink Boll Worm Red Cotton Bug SUGARCANE Leaf hopper

1. Pests Of Cotton & Pest Of Sugarcane
Dr. M.T. Nikam
Shri Shivaji Science & Art’s College, Chikhli.
Dist. Buldhana (M.S.) 443201

2. PESTS OF COTTON
1. Cotton being the major cash crop of our region, insects attacking cotton crop
are of great importance.
2. For controlling the damage done by these insects it is necessary to know their
identification and control measures.
3. The three important pests of cotton are Spotted boll worm, Pink boll worm and
Red cotton bug.
1 ) Spotted Boll Worm 
2 ) Pink Boll Worm ---
3 ) Red Cotton Bug ---

3. Spotted Boll Worm
Earias vitella and Earias insulana
( Order-Lepidoptera, Family-Noctuidae ).
Cosmopolitan India, Burma, some part of Europe, Egypt and Australia
abundant in MP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,
particularly in the high rainfall areas.
Occurrence

4.  E. vitella is a small moth measuring about 12mm in length and 25mm in wing span.
 Fore wings have a broad green band which give it a banded appearance.
 The fore -wings of E. insulana are of greenish colour and hind wings of both the
species are white.
 The body colour is bright green and abdomen is silvery white.
Cotton, Maize, Lady's finger, Hibiscus (Malvaceous family).
Host Plants
IDENTIFICATION:
E. vitella
E. insulana

5.  Female lays 200-600 eggs singly on the flower buds, bracts, bolls and green leaves
during night.
 Incubation period 2-10 days.
 Larval instars 5. Larval period 8-20 days in warm region and 50-60 days in winter.
 Development occurs inside the boll. Head and prothoracic shield of Larva with
orange dots and black and brown spots over the body.
 The last instar larva is 2 cm long.
 The fully grown larva of E. Vitella is characterized by white median longitudinal
streak dorsally and pale yellow ventrally.
 Pupation occur inside a silken cocoon in cracks and crevices of the soil.
 Pupal period 7-16 days.
 After completion of Pupal Period the adult moth emerge out.
LIFE CYCLE

6. LIFE CYCLE : EARIAS VITELLA

7.  The infective stage is caterpillar.
 They bore the stem of young seedlings and feed upon the buds,
flowers and then bore the bolls causing their heavy dropping.
 The infested shoot wither, dropped and die.
 A number of holes are formed on the infested bolls plugged with
excreta.
 One caterpillar can destroy many bolls in its life span of one month.
 The infested bolls open premature and produce poor lint which
fetches 50-80% lower price.
DAMAGE

8. PRIMARY MEASURES :
CHEMICAL MEASURES :
 Spraying with carbaryl, quinalphos, phosalone, malathion, 5% fenitrothion after every 15 days.
 Uprooting and burning of cotton stalks soon after harvest.
 Destruction of wild alternate host plants from the area of ​​cultivation.
 Cliping of Infested seedling shoots.
 Destruction of dropped bolls.
 Burning of fallen cotton stalks, infested shoots and bolls.
 egg parasite, Trichogramma evanescens, larval parasite, Microbracon lefroyi, Rhogas, Apanteles
pupal parasite- Chelonus rufus are found effective.
 Larva-predator - bug, Cantheconidae furcellata and wasp, Eumenes petiolata.
BIOLOGICAL MEASURES :

9. THE PINK BOLL WORM :
Pectinophora gossypiella
(Order : Lepidoptera, Family : Gelechiidae)
OCCURRENCE :
IDENTIFICATION:
HOST PLANTS :
 World-wide, America, Asia etc. nocturnal moths.
 It is a native of India and distributed all over the country.
 It is small grey, dark brown moth measuring 1cm long and wing span1.5cm.
 Fore wings provided with blackish spots and hind wings are deeply fringed.
 The antennae are fili form and they are nocturnal in habit.
 Cotton, maize, lady's finger, various malvaceous plants (Hibiscus etc.)
 High humidity and temperature range 24-28 ° C are favorable.

10. LIFE CYCLE :
 Short and long life cycles due to larval diapause for 8-10 months.
 Female 3 days after emergence performs subsequent mating, lays about 100-400
pale yellow - reddish eggs singly or in cluster on underside of leaves, floral buds,
bracts and bolls.
 Incubation period-4-6 days, but may extend up to 25 days. Larval Instars - 4.
Larval period: 8-41 days depending on climate.
 Last instar larva developed in November may undergo diapause for a period of 10
months to two years.
 The first instar is creamy white with dark brown head but 2nd and 3rd instars are
pink in color and lead a concealed life. The fully grown larvae are 1 cm long, white
and with a double red band on upper part of each segment.
 Pupation in light brown cocoons inside bolls, lint, seeds, brackets, soil cracks etc.
Pupal period: 6-20 days. Adults - survive for two years.

11. LIFE CYCLE : PECTINOPHORA GOSSYPIELLA

12. DAMAGE:
 Caterpillar is the infective stage, which bores flower buds, flowers
and bolls of cotton.
 They feed on seeds internally and seal the holes after entering
the bolls.
 The attacked seed cotton gives a poor ginning percentage, less
oil extraction and poor spinning quality of cotton.
 Moreover within cotton seeds they may undergo diapause and
are transported from place to place unidentified.

13. CONTROL :
 Cotton seeds fumigated by carbon di-sulphide or methyl bromide at 5 cc of fumigant
per 100 kg of seeds.
 Seed heating at 60'c by Simon Cotton Seed Heater or Sun Heating.
 Spraying with 0.2% Carbaryl, fenitrothion, phosalone 4-5 times after 15 days during
August September.
 Pyrethroids are found to be very effective.
 The seeds should be kept under 'Sun heat Treatment' before sowing.
 The fallen leaves, bolls, cotton sticks should be collected and destroyed.
 Ploughing and irrigation will destroy hibernating caterpillars.
 Natural enemies like larval parasites eg. mites, Microbracongreeni. Microbraconlefroyi
may be introduced.
 Primary measures :
 Chemical measures :
 Biological measures :

14. THE RED COTTON BUG
Dysdercus cingulatus
(Order : Hemiptera, Family : Pyrrhocoridae)
Occurrence :
Identification:
 This pest is distributed in India, Australia, Philippines and Shri Lanka.
 In India it is a serious pest of cotton in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and Maharastra.
 The red cotton bug is blood red pest.
 Females (15mm) are longer than males (12mm).
 Fore wings, antennae and scutelum are black.
 Ventral side of abdomen i.e. stomach with many transverse white bands.
 Mouth parts are piercing and sucking type.
 They form a straight beak or rostrum.

15. HOST PLANTS :
Cotton is the main host plant of this pest.
Apart from cotton, it also feeds on lady’s finger, maize, hollyhock
and Deccan hemp
cotton
lady’s fingermaize

16. LIFE CYCLE : RED COTTON BUG
, spherical yellow eggs under the soil of cotton Female
lays 100-150field.
Incubation period - 4-7 days.
Nymphal instars : 6. Nymphal period 30-90 days.
Nymphs are red and similar to the adults but small and
wingless. Life cycle span : 40-100 days.

17. DAMAGE :
The nymph and adult suck the plant sap from the leaves,
shoots and bolls.
The lint is stained red.
They badly affect the quality of ginning and oil content.
If the attack is severe, boll open badly and the lint is of
poor quality.
The seed of infested cotton have low percentage of
germination.
They introduce, a bacterium, nemotospora gossypii into
bolls causing red staining of the lint, besides depositing
excreta.

18. CONTROL
Primary measures :
Chemical measures :
Biological measures :
 Predators like Antilochus coqueberti and Harpactor costalis are commonly used.
 Mass killing of the nymphs and adults by hand picking and putting in kerosenised
water.
 Plouging the field to expose the egg to sun light.
 The crop of bhindi should be sown as trap crop and pests collected should be
destroyed.
 Spraying of malathion 0.05% is effective.
 Spraying of sevin, methyl parathion, heptachalor is useful to control the pest.

19. PEST OF SUGARCANE
Pyrilla perpusilla (Leaf hopper)
(Order : Hemiptera; Family : Lophopidae)
Occurrence
: Major pest of India, Sri Lanka, Epidemic pest during April to August.
 U.P, Bihar, M.P, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Panjab & Haryana.

20. Identification :
 Adult Pyrilla is straw coloured and is very active.
 Head with a long beak like proboscis and prominent red eyes.
 It measures about 20mm long.
 A pair of whitish brown anal processes, covered with white mealy wax, are also found
which help in up and downward active movement of the insect.
 Two pairs of wings are folded like a roof.
Host Plants :
 Sugarcane, bajra, jowar, maize.

21. LIFE CYCLE :
 Entire life cycle on cane plants.
 Clusters of pale greenish yellow, about 20-25 eggs are laid on the lower
surface of the leaves and are covered with cottony waxy filaments, secreted
by anal tufts.
 Each female lays about 700 eggs.
 Incubation period 8 to 10 days in April- October and 20-40 days during
Nov.- March.
 Nymphal instars :5 Nymphal period : 45-60 days during April to September.
 In summer period may prolong for 4 - 7 months.
 Nymphs are waxy white with a pair of anal waxy filament like processes
(brushes).
 5th Nymphal instar develops into adult.

22. LIFE CYCLE : PYRILLA PERPUSILLA

23. DAMAGE
 Both nymph and adult bugs suck plant sap from leaves causing drying and
shedding of leaves.
 The insect discharges honey dew on leaves on which the black fungus
capnodium so that the leaves become black and photosynthesis prevented.
 Cane loses percentage of sucrose, about 50% during severe attack.

24. CONTROL
Primary measures :
Chemical measures :
 Collection of egg masses and destruction.
 Disposal of cane trash.
 Bagging of adults in nests.
 Striping of dried leaves, leaf- sheaths at large scale.
 The resistant varieties of sugarcane should be taken.
 Spraying of dimecron, dimethoate, metasystox or carbaryl.
 Dusting of field with 2% methyl parathion at 12.5 kg/hectre in premonsoon
period found effective.

25. CONTROL :
Biological measures :
 Egg Parasites: Tetrastychus pyrillae, Ooencyrtus pyrillae, Cheiloneurus pyrilae.
 Egg Predators: Coecinellids - Chilomenes sexmaculata, coccinella
septempunctata.
 Nymph Parasite: Caterpillars of dryinus pyrilae, nymph caterpillar of Epipyrops
Melanoleuca.
 Nymph Fungi: Metarrhizium anisopliae.

26. College Entomology. Asia playing cards Co. Agra (1982).
REFERENCES :
Essig, E.O. :
Tembhare D.B. : Modern Entomology Himalaya publishing house Mumbai (2009)
A Text book of Insect morphology, Physiology and Endocrinology S. Chand &
Co. Ltd.' New Delhi (1984)
Tembhare D.B. :
Shukla G.S. &
Upadhyay V.B.
Economic Zoology, Rastogi Publications Meerut ( 2007)
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.org
Images :