Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) an agricultural pest has been recorded to feed on more than 180 cultivated and wild plant species. The cotton bollworm is a threat to intensive agriculture. Its economic importance as a pest is exaggerated due to its direct violence on fruiting construction, voracious feeding habit, high mobility and fecundity, as well as adaptable in nature. Annual losses due to this pest worldwide are estimated in billions of dollars. Helicoverpa armigera is a serious polyphagous plant pest-made invasion all over the world and now still occupying many continents. It is the only highly serious quarantine agricultural pest for several countries. Helicoverpa armigera. Polyphagous pest The young larva feeds on tender leaves, buds, flowers. Bores into the pods and feeds on the seeds. A single larva may destroy 30-40 pods before it reaches maturity.

1. MASS PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY OF Helicoverpa
armigera
AND ITS PARASITOIDS
Babita kaushal
(ENT-606)

2. Gram pod borer: Helicoverpa armigera
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Polyphagous pest
The young larva feeds on tender leaves, buds, flowers.
Bores into the pods and feeds on the seeds.
A single larva may destroy 30-40 pods before it reaches
maturity.

3. Identification: The larva is green with
dark brown grey lines and with dark and
pale bands. It shows color variation -
greenish to brown color . The larva feeds
on the boll by thrusting their heads alone
inside. Bolls show irregular, circular bore
holes and presence of granular faecal
pellets outside the bore-hole.

5. TECHNIQUE FOR MASS
PRODUCTION OF Helicoverpa
armigera

6. ◦ The culture of H. armigera is started by collecting the adults
in light traps. Also collected from its host crops in endemic
areas for initiating the culture.
◦ The culture is reared in the laboratory in aseptic conditions.
◦ The production plan starts with the availability of 550 pairs of
adults every day which will yield 22,000 eggs daily.
◦ The adults are kept @ 100 pairs in each oviposition cage. Each
cage consists of a cylindrical iron frame (50 cm h x 30 cm
diameter) having two rings and with a white or black cloth
enclosing the frame.
◦ It is placed on an aluminum tray (40x40x5cm) with a 3cm
thick sponge at the bottom soaked in water.

7. ◦ The eggs are laid all over the inner surface of the cloth cover. The cloth
with eggs is removed daily.
◦ The cloth containing eggs is surface sterilized in 10% formalin for 10
minutes, the eggs could also be surface sterilized by 0.2% sodium
hypochloride solution for 5-7 minutes and treated with 10% sodium
thiosulphate. Then, rinsed in distilled water five times for about 10
minutes and eggs collected.
◦ The dried cloth pieces containing eggs are kept in 2 litre flasks
containing moist cotton. Flasks are plugged with cotton wrapped in
muslin cloth and the bottom of the flask is wrapped with aluminum foil.
◦ The larvae are reared on a semisynthetic diet. The composition and cost
of diet for rearing larvae is as follows:

8. Semi-synthetic Diet

9. Materials required for Mass Culturing
-Plastic jars
-Plastic tubs
-Pencillin vials with cotton plugs
-Bhendi vegetables
-Black cloth,
-Khada cloth
-Saw dust
-0.025 % Sodium hypochlorite
-Chick pea / groundnut seedlings
-Bleaching powder
-Coffee powder
-Multivitamin syrup
-10 % sucrose
 -Beaker 500 ml
-Measuring cylinder
-Egg laying chamber

10. PROCEDURE :
1) Release 10 males and 5 females at 2: 1 ratio in plastic containers and cover with thin black cloth.
(Female require multiple mating to lay fertile eggs)
2) To induce the moths to lay more eggs multivitamin syrup 2 drops + 10 % sucrose is given
through cotton swabs
3) Daily collect the egg cloth after 3rd day of copulation. Provide 25- 28 o C , 80- 90 % R.H
during egg laying. A female lays 300 –700 eggs
4) Sterilize the egg cloth in 0.025 % sodium hypochlorite for ten seconds and immediately dip the
egg cloth in distilled water in 3 different buckets having distilled water one by one and then dry
it in shade.
5) Raise chickpea or groundnut seedlings in a week interval and provide for feeding

11. 6) Place newly hatched larvae on chickpea/groundnut seedlings along with egg cloth or one
day or place 3-4 eggs in vials containing artificial diet
7) Pick young larvae and rear on bhendi vegetable individually in penicillin vials to avoid
cannibalism.
8) Daily change diet till pre pupal stage
9) Collect pre –pupae and allow for pupation in plastic container having saw dust
10) Pupae sterilization is done with the help of coffee filter by dip method
11) Transfer the pupae inside the egg lying chamber by keeping them on a separate petri dish
without lid.

12. Fig. Helicoverpa
armigera:
(a)larvae in vials;
(b) grown up VI instar
larvae;
(c) Pupae;
(d) female moth;
(e) male moth;
(f) earthen pot;
(g) eggs on black cloth;
(h) larvae in multicavity
rearing tray

13. MASS PRODUCTION OF
Ha NPV

14. Materials Required
 Blender –
 Nucleus Ha- NPV solution
 Distilled water
 Centrifuge
 Beaker
 Measuring cylinder
 Bengal gram / Bhendi
 Haemocytometer
 Sticker

15. PROCEDURE :
1. Starve the 3rd instar larvae for 3-5 hours
2. Prepare bhendi vegetable for larval feed
3. Pour 2-3 drops of Ha NPV suspension in the penicillin vial and feed to the
larvae
4. Repeat the inoculation process twice after 24 hours
5. Within 4 days disease symptoms appear and larvae die within a week
6. Take the diseased larvae in distilled water

16. 7. Keep the flask for 15 days for putrefaction. Filter the solution
through muslin cloth
8. Centrifuge the filtrate for 5 minutes at 500 rpm
9. Collect the supernatant and again centrifuge for 30 minutes at
4000 rpm
10. Collect the sediment with distilled water and keep it in glass
container
11. Store the pure Ha- NPV in refrigerator until use

17. Field Use :
◦ Dosage : 450 LE / ha two to three times
at 10 –15 days interval with 0.05 %
teepol as sticking agent .
◦ The virus is highly specific to target
insects. So it has no deleterious effects
on non-target insects and environment.

18. The application of NPV depends on the crop and the stage of the crop. With low crop canopy the
dose administered is less. When the pest occurs in as a foliage feeder the dose required is also
less on crops like cotton the pest preferentially feeds on the fruiting parts. Under such situations
higher dosages are needed. To protect the virus from unfavorable conditions numerous adjuvants
are advocated . The steps involved are :

19. PARASITOIDS OF
Helicoverpa armigera

20. Egg parasitoids
Trichogramma wasps
◦ Between one to four Trichogramma wasps
develop within one helicoverpa egg.
Trichogramma uses its antennae to measure the
size of the host egg in order to determine the
number of eggs it will lay in it.
Telenomus wasps
◦ In contrast, only one Telenomus wasp develops
per helicoverpa egg. For both species, it will take
about 10 days at 25o C for an adult wasp to
emerge from a parasitised egg.

21. Larval parasitoids
Microplitis demolitor
◦ Female Microplitis wasps sting second instar
(4–7 mm) helicoverpa caterpillars. The
parasitoid larva then feeds internally and
chews a hole in the side of its host to emerge
and pupate externally. Host caterpillars are
killed before they do much feeding damage.
The whole Microplitis lifecycle (egg–adult)
takes about 10–12 days.
Netelia producta
◦ When attacking its host, Netelia temporarily
paralyses the caterpillar by stinging it. With
the host paralysed, the wasp moves in and lays
a brown egg onto the skin of the caterpillar,
close to its head.

22. Lissopimpla excelsa
◦ Lissopimpla has a similar lifecycle to
Heteropelma: the adult wasp inserts her eggs
inside the helicoverpa larva using her
ovipositor. The developing Lissopimpla larva
feeds inside its host and does not kill it until
after the caterpillar has pupated underground.
Heteropelma scaposum
Larval–pupal parasitoids
After being parasitised, the host caterpillar continues
growing and pupates in the soil as normal. However,
shortly after pupation, parasitoid feeding kills the
host. When the Heteropelma larva is fully
developed, it pupates within the helicoverpa pupal
case. The adult wasp emerges by chewing open the
pupal case and exits the pupal chamber by crawling
up the emergence tunnel.

23. Pupal parasitoid
Banded caterpillar parasite (Ichneumon promissorius)
Ichneumon locates it host by searching over
the soil surface. When the wasp finds the thin,
silken cap that covers the helicoverpa pupal
chamber, it digs through and enters the
chamber. The wasp then lays an egg in the
pupa and host feeds on the fluids that leak out
from the puncture wound. After being
parasitised, the host pupa dies and the pupal
case stiffens as the wasp larva consumes the
tissues. The adult wasp emerges from the
pupal case by chewing off the head section
and leaves the pupal chamber via the
emergence tunnel.

24. Trichogramma spp
a) Trichogramma chilonis Ishii
◦ Egg parasitoid against lepidopterous pests in different
crops
b) Trichogramma embryophagum Hartig
◦ Egg parasitoid against lepidopterous pests in
plantation crops
c) Trichogramma japonicum Ashmead
◦ Egg parasitoid against borers in sugarcane and paddy
◦ Family: Trichogrammatidae
◦ Order: Hymenoptera

25. a) Trichogramma
chilonis Ishii
b) Trichogramma
embryophagum Hartig
c) Trichogramma
japonicum Ashmead

26. Production procedure
◦ The eggs of Corcyra cephalonica, treated with UV rays for 45 minutes to prevent hatching are
glued to 'Tricho"cards of 15 cm x 10 cm
◦ The cards are pre-punched to obtain 8 pieces of 4 cm x 38 cm leaving uncovered space at one
end to facilitate stapling
◦ The eggs are exposed to adult female Trichogramma in the ratio of 8:1 for 24 hours
◦ In case cards are exposed in polythene bags the egg to female ratio should be 30:1 but in this
method the females are allowed to parasitize till they die
◦ After parasitization, 6 day old parasitized egg cards are prepared for shipment/field release
◦ A pair of cards is stapled in such a way so that the eggs do not touch each other
◦ Twenty 'Tricho' cards are packed in each polythene bag

27. ◦ In polythene bags a strip of wood wool coated with concentrated and dried honey is
placed inside before closing to facilitate feeding by adult parasitoids which might
emerge in transit
◦ 2, 4 and 6 day old parasitized Corcyra eggs (50,000/ha for sugarcane and most other
crops could be packed in perforated capsules
◦ The perforations permit the Trichogramma to emerge but prevent predator attack
◦ Ordinary corks are bored with cork borer to make a cavity for placing eggs
◦ The cavity is glued with a small piece of mesh to ensure emergence of
adult Trichogramma but not the entry of predators
◦ Such corks containing eggs are dispersed in the field randomly as are the capsules
mentioned above

28. ECONOMICS OF MASS
REARING

29. Economics of Production of Bio Control Agents
- Trichogramma Spp.
◦ Introduction : Trichogramma chilonis , T. japonicum has tremendous market in Bio-
control .
◦ The raw material for preparation of these bio-control agents is Corcyra eggs. The
simple economics for Trichogramma production is carried out.
◦ Capital Investment : It is the initial amount of money to be spent for building ,
machinery’s.
◦ The interest on capital investment is alone taken as fixed cost.
◦ Fixed Investment : It includes depreciation values of machinery, building , taxes,
insurance .
◦ It costs even when there is no production.

30. Total Cost :
Total cost - Fixed cost + Variable cost Gross income
(The total income is calculated based on the average cost of product
/unit/year)
Net Income : This is calculated using the cost of production and gross
income
Risk factor : Risk factor is taken in to account and it is analyzed.
Inference : It is written based on the profitability of the product

31. Capital Investment :
◦ Cost of terraced building - 40 ‘ x 20’ x 20 ‘- 800 ‘ @ Rs 500/sq .foot - Rs. 4,00,000
◦ Refrigerator 165 lit - Rs 8000/ unit
◦ Exhaust fan 1 HP UV lamp box - Rs 4500/- + Rs .1200/-
◦ Wooden table 1 No. with 3 chairs - Rs 1200/- @ Rs 750/table Rs 150 / chair
◦ Iron stands with 5 racks , dimension } 9’x2 ‘x 7 ‘ Rs 200/ stand } Rs. 60,000/- 40 kg/stand @ Rs 50 /kg 900
stands}
◦ Iron netted doors Rs 15/sq. m 4 x Windows - Rs 80 /- } 3 x doors - Rs 72/- } Rs 3275 /- with fitting charges
Telecom deposit Rs 2500
◦ Glass wares Measuring cylinder Rs 40/-
◦ Cost of plastic basin 30 cm diameter Rs 15 x 900 Rs. 13,500
◦ Test tube 8 Nos. Rs 80 /-
◦ Mating drum plastic @ Rs 75/- bucket Rs. 1600/-
◦ Plastic tray Rs 20/- 8
◦ Hand sprayer - Rs 50x 2 Rs 100/-

32. Fixed investments
◦ Fixed investments includes depreciation , values of machinery , building , taxes, insurance .
◦ It costs even when there is no production .
◦ Depreciation of house 1 year period at 1 % Rs 4000/-
◦ Refrigerator @ 10 % depreciation Rs 720/-
◦ UV lamp box @ 20 % Rs 240/-
◦ Exhaust fan @ 5 % depreciation Rs 405
◦ Table and chair @ 3 % Rs 36/-
◦ Iron stand @ 5 % ( 20 yr life period ) Rs 2160 /-
◦ Iron netted doors @ 2 % Rs 65.50
◦ Depreciation for trays (15 yr ) Rs 2700/-
◦ Glass wares 50 % Rs. 60/-

33. Variable costs

34. Labour charges :-

35. Income :-

36. Inference:
◦ Hence it is clear that setting up Bio - control agents production center is
profitable . The BCR is 2.3 and net profit is Rs 3,10, 727 / per annum.
Cost of producing one young larva (5 days) on
artificial diet
0.07ps
Cost of producing one 5-7 days ol d larva (5-7 days) 0.20ps
Cost of production of 1 mature larva or pupa Rs. 1.00
Cost of production of 100 eggs 0.16ps
Cost of Production

37. Thank you