1. The document identifies and describes several major insect pests that damage cotton and sunnhemp crops. It provides details on the life cycles, damage symptoms, and control measures for defoliating pests like the cotton leaf roller and cotton semilooper. 2. It also discusses stem-boring and root-feeding pests such as the stem weevil, cotton shoot weevil, and cotton stem borer. Their damage causes swelling of stems and wilting/death of plants. 3. For sunnhemp, the major pests highlighted are the hairy caterpillar and capsids bug. The caterpillars cause defoliation while the bugs suck plant sap and damage leaves.

1. Identification of Insect Pests of Cotton(Cond.)and
Sunhemp and their damage symptoms

2. Defoliators

3. Cotton leaf roller : Sylepta derogata
( Pyralidae : Lepidoptra )
Adult is a medium sized moth with yellowish wings and
brown wavy markings on both the wings
Host range : Cotton, Bhendi, Abutilon indicum and other Malvaceous plants

4. Life cycle of the pest
Eggs : are laid singly on under surface of the leaves
Eggs are smooth, flat, pale white in colour
Fecundity- 200-300 eggs/ female,
I.P-3-6 days
Larva: there are 5 larval instars and measures 2.5-3cm in length, shinning
smooth body green in colour with dark brown head and prothorax
L.P – 15-35 days
Pupa : pupation takes place in leaf fold or within rolled leaf
P.P – 6-12 days
Nature and symptoms of damage
 Initial instars scrape the leaf tissue and later roll the leaf like a trumpet
and feed on them and thus defoliate the plant
 A single larva can damage several leaves
 More than one larva can be seen inside the roll
 It is fastened by silken threads on marginal portion

5. Rolled leaves in the form of trumpet Larva
Larva can be seen inside the leaf roll

6. More than one larva can be seen inside the leaf roll
Control measures
 Clipping of folded leaves
 Spray any contact insecticides

7. Cotton semilooper : Anomis flava
( Noctuidae : Lepidoptera )
Adult is a medium sized moth and measures 2.5 to 3 cm in wing expanse
and brown in colour
Fore wings are dark brown or reddish brown with dark coloured
zigzag bands
Hind wings are pale white or buff coloured.
It is a sporadic pest of Cotton

8. Life cycle of the pest
Egg: are laid singly on the upper surface of the leaf
Fecundity- 600 eggs/female
I.P- 4-5 days
Larva: green in colour with 5 white longitudinal lines on the body and
red coloured prolegs
L.P – 20 days
Pupa : Its pupates within leaf folds
P.P – 9-10 days
Nature of damage
Larva feeds on leaves thus defoliates the plant
Control measures
Spray any contact insecticides

9. Ash weevil: Myllocerus spp.
( Curculionidae : Coleoptera )
Adults are grey coloured weevil with
or without markings on the elytra and
measuring 3-6 mm long
Eggs : are white, laid in the rhizosphere
Each female lays about 300 eggs
I.P – 3 - 5 days
Grubs : are white apodous
L. P – 30 31 days
Pupa – It pupates in an earthen cell in soil
P.P – 7-9 days
Nature of damage
Adults feeds on leaf margin in “U” shaped manner and thus reduce
the leaf area.
Weevil also feed on the flower buds and flowers
Grubs remain under ground and feed on the root system and attacked
plants wilt and dry up

10. Cotton grass hopper : Cyrtocathacris tatarica
( Acrididae : Orthoptera )
 Adults are active and measuring 10 cm in length, bigger in size,
pale brown coloured short horned grass hopper
 The brown patches on the wings with fine marks on the pronotum.

11. Eggs : are laid in egg pod in the soil in the month of Nov – Dec
It hatch in 15 days in summer and more than
150 days in winter
Egg pods
Nymphs : Nymphs have broad yellowish stripes on the prothorax and
emerge during monsoon showers and passes 5-7 nymphal instars
N.P – 10-170 days
Nature of damage
 Young ones will feed on grasses / weeds initially and later move
on to cotton
 Nymphs and adults feeds on cotyledons and growing plants and
mainly feeds on leaves
Control measures
Dusting of bunds with methyl parathion 2 %D

12. Tobacco cut worm: Spodoptera litura
( Noctuidae : Lepidoptera )
Adult is a medium sized moth with fore wings are
greyish- brown and bearing white zigzag markings
and hind wings are white in colour
Nature of damage
The first instar larvae feed gregariously on the leaf, on which the egg mass is laid
by Scrapping the epidermal layer, leaving the skeleton of veins.
The skeletonized leaf may dry up
Then, the larvae move to other leaves and feed by making small holes.
In later stages, they consume most of these leaf tissues and because of severe attack,
only the stem and side shoots will be standing in the field without any leaf or bolls.
Once squares, flowers and bolls develop, they prefer these better than leaves.
They bore into them, feed on the internal content completely and cause shedding
of squares and young bolls

13. Egg Mass and Early instar gregarious larvae
Feeding on flower & leavesAdult
This type of feeding is seen only during early morning hours and night, and during
hot sunny hours the caterpillars will be hiding in the flowers or in the cracks of
the soil.
This pest is found to cause damage in all stages of crop growth, but fleshy green
leaves should be present for egg laying
(Detailed refer under Tobacco)

14. Serpentine leaf miner: Liriomyza trifolii
( Agromyzidae : Diptera )
Adult is small beautifully coloured fly, head is yellowish with dark brown eyes
and ocelluar triangle and back of the head are black in colour and mesoscutellum
and abdominal sterna yellow and terga brown in colour and legs are yellow in colour
An introduced pest becoming serious in the recent years
(Detailed refer under Tomato)

15.  Larva will mine the leaf and will feed on mesophyll tissues as a result
tunnels will produced.
 As the maggot grow the tunnel become enlarged
Management practices
Spray the crop with 5 % NSKE
or
Spray the crop with triazophos 40 EC @ 0.05 % or deltamethrin 2.8 EC
@ 0.0028 %
Spray the area below the plant to eliminate the pupa

16. Root / Stem feeders
or
Borer pests of Cotton

17. Stem weevil: Pempherulus affinis
(Curculionidae: Coleoptera)
The adult weevils are small and measures 3 mm long, dirty brown in colour
with two small white patches on the elytra and a conspicuous down
curved snout.

18. Eggs : It lays globular or oval shaped eggs singly in the cavities scooped out
by the female weevil at the tender nodal region of the plants. The cavities are
sealed with a gummy secretions
A female weevil lays an average of 50 eggs with a maximum of 121 eggs.
I.P - 6-10 days.
Grub: white, apodous. The grub feeds on stem tissues internally.
The larval period lasts 35-37 days.
Pupa : It pupates in pupal chamber with in the stem
The adult may live for 25 - 30 days
Nature and symptoms of damage :
The damage to cotton starts when plants are young and
are about three weeks old.
The grubs bite into the region between the bark
and the main stem feed on soft tissues, resulting in
swellings on the stem just above the ground level.
Young plants are invariably killed on account of the attack of the pest and the
older plants that survive, lack of vigour and strength, and when strong winds
blow, these plants break at the nodes.

19. Stem gall Stem galls Grub
Symptoms of damage
 Swellings on the stem just above the ground level.
 Young plants are invariably killed
 Older plants that survive, lack of vigor and strength, and when strong winds blow,
these plants sometimes break at the nodes.
Control measures
Removal and destruction of plants showing symptoms of attack
Earthing up along the rows of seedlings and close spacing are the measures
recommended for the control
Soil application of carbofuran 3G @ 12.5kg / acre on 20 days after sowing before
earthing up
Basal application of FYM @ 10 tonns / acre or 100kg neem cake / acre
Application of chlorpyriphos @ 2 ml / lit. of water at 15 days interval from 3 weeks
after sowing

20. Cotton shoot weevil: Alcidodes affaber
( Curculionidae : Coleoptera )
Adult is a dark greyish brown weevil with pale coloured cross bands on the elytra
Eggs : are laid singly in the tissues
Grubs : are creamy yellow, Apodous
Pupa : Pupation inside the stem
It is more common in South India

21. Adults feed on leaves, buds and tender terminal shoots
Nature and symptoms of damage
 Both adults and grubs injure the top shoots and leaf stalks
 Terminal shoots with galls
 Bored holes are surrounded by raised margins
 The affected shoots dies up and growth will be effected
symptoms
 Terminal shoots with galls
 Bored holes surrounded by raised markings
(Control measures refer under stem weevil)

22. Cotton stem borer: Sphenoptera gossypii
( Buprestidae : Coleoptera)
Adult is a shiny coppery brown beetle, measuring 8-10 mm long
It is a minor pest
Eggs : are laid singly on the stem, especially collar region
Grubs : are apodous and measures 2.5 cm long
Pupa : It pupates within the larval gallery

23. The grubs burrows into the stem feeding on the internal tissues and
swelling at the region of feeding and plant will break at the point
of swelling usually when the crop is in boll producing stage.
Symptoms
Plants with drooping of leaves
Plants wilting in patches

24. Infested plants
Control measures
 Take out the affected shoots
 Plants with galls should be eliminated
 Spray any contact insecticides
or
 Soil application of carbofuran 3G @ 12.5kg / acre on 20 days after
sowing before earthing up
 Basal application of FYM @ 10 tonns / acre or
100kg neem cake / acre
Affected stem

25. Non Insect pests of Cotton

26. Cotton mite :Tetranychus urticae
( Tetranychidae : Acarina )
Adult mite Eggs
T. urticae is the most numerous mite species on cotton
Other species that may occur are
 Bean spider mite
 Strawberry spider mite

27. The mites lives under web on the upper surface / lower surface of the
leaves by sucking sap.
The grown up leaves suffer more as a result affected leaves
turn brown and dry up.

28. Nature of damage
The first sign of damage is bronzing of the upper leaf surface near the
petiole or leaf fold
As the numbers increase, the leaves turn red and become in the webbing
and affected leaves may dry and fall off
High mite populations can significantly affect yield and quality of cotton
The earlier in the season that infestations develop the greater the
potential of yield loss and quality decreases
Affected leaves turn brown and later dry up

29. The woolly mites : 1. Aceria gossypii
(Eriophyidae : Acarina )
This is commonly found infesting the herbaceum variety of cotton in Gurjat,
MH and Karnataka
The mite lives under the epidermis of the leaves and causes irritation
resulting in the growth of dense whitish hairs on both sides of the leaves
The infested leaves become stunted, crinkled, hard and crisp and in severe
cases of attack shedding of bolls
2. Aceria putturudriahi
It occurs in Karnataka and induces felt like out growths of white hairs
on tender cotton shoots including squares and leaves
Attacked plants may become stunted with boll formation suppressed
Management practices
 Mite infestations increase after the application of some broad- spectrum insecticides
for control of other pests
 Control of weeds with in fields and along field boundaries that serve as over wintering
sites for mites
 Spray the crop with dicofol @ 2.5ml/ lit. of water or propargite @ 2 ml / lit. of water

30. Indentification of Insect pests of Sunnhemp and
their damage symptoms
 Sunn hemp is one of the most important fibre crop, next only to cotton and jute
 Unlike cotton and jute, It is a valuable green manuring crop

31. Sunhemp is attacked by a dozen of insects but only the hairy caterpillars and
Capsid bugs are important and cause considerable damage
1.Sunnhemp hairy caterpillar: Utethesia pulchella
(Arctiidae: Lepidoptera)
Adult is a medium sized moth and has pale white fore wings with red and black
spots and black marginal blotches on the hind wings
Eggs : The female moths lay 80-100 small whitish eggs on the tender leaves
and shoots.
I.P : 3-4 days
It is the most seriou sand specific pest of sun hemp in TN, AP, WB, Orissa,
Bihar, UP, and MH

32. Larva : Caterpillar hairy with brown head and yellow lines on the
dorsal, dorso-lateral side with black stripes and orange patches
Body has long brownish hairs arising on warts. L.P : 18-21 days
Pupa : Pupation takes place either in the leaf folds or in the soil.
The life cycle is completed in about 5 weeks and a number of
generations are completed in a year. P.P : 6-8 days
Nature of damage
The hatching larva either defoliates during vegetative stage and
the caterpillars feed by thrusting the head in to the pod and the rest
of the body exposed and feed on the seed thus cause a decrease in
seed production
Symptoms
 Defoliation of plants
 Bored seed capsules

33. 2. Hairy caterpillar: Argina cribraria / Argina syringa
(Arctiidae: Lepidoptera)
A. A. cribraria adult has black spots on yellowish wings whereas
B. A. syringa has black spots on reddish brown wings
Eggs : Yellowish eggs laid in clusters on the undersurface of the leaves.
Larva : Caterpillar hairy with black transverse markings and white spots.
Pupa : It pupates on the plant or the surface of the soil.
Larvae feed on the leaves and cause defoliation.
Control measures
 Larval parasitoids - Bracon brevicornis suppress the population naturally
 The pest can be suppressed by hand picking and killing the caterpillars
 Foliar spray with methyl parathion @ 2 ml / lit. of water
or
dusting methyl parathion 2 % D @ 10-12 kgs / acre are the effective measures

34. 3. Sunhemp mirid/capsid: Ragmus importunitas
(Miridae : Hemíptera)
This is a small, active, green coloured bug, which sucks plant sap
and when present in large swarms, causes appreciable damage
The pest is widely distributed in Southern India

35. Life cycle of the pest
Eggs : The bugs lay white cylindrical eggs singly in the plant tissue,
generally under the surface layer of leaves
Nymphs : The young nymphs on emergence, begin to feed on the plants
All the stages of the insect may be found simultaneously
When the population is high and attack severe, the plant become pale
and appear unhealthy
Damage symptoms
 Nymphs and adults suck the sap from tender leaves and shoots
 Minute chlorotic spots, later coalesce to cause yellowing of leaves
 In severe attack, cause death of plants
Control measures
 The population of the pest can be suppressed by collecting the bugs
with nets or sticky traps
 Spray the crop with 625 ml of malathion 50EC in 625 lit. of
water per ha.

36. Adult is a yellowish brown small beetle with enlarged hind femur
 Adult makes minute holes on leaves, grub feeds on the roots by mining
 Eggs are laid in soil
 Yellowish grubs pupate in earthen cells in the soil
4. Flea beetle : Longitarsus belgaumensis
( Chrysomelidae : Coleoptera)

37. 5. Spiny pod borer : Etiella zinckenella
( Pyralidae :Lepidoptera )
 Adult is a medium sized moth, grayish brown with a white line on the
anterior margin and transverse yellow band in the fore wing
 Hind wings are pale coloured
(Refer pulses)
Nature of damage
 The larvae consume floral parts, newly formed pods and seeds inside the
developing pods
 The reduction in yield may be up to 5 %

38. 6. Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci
(Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera)
Adult is a minute insect with yellow body covered with a white
waxy bloom.
Damage symptoms
Nymphs and adults suck the sap from the under surface of leaves.
Severe infestation results in premature defoliation, development of
sooty mould,