This document discusses several major potato insect pests. It describes the symptoms of damage caused by each pest, including greasy cutworms cutting stems and eating tubers, potato tuber moths tunneling into foliage and tubers, white grubs feeding on roots and tubers at night, tobacco caterpillars defoliating plants, and others sucking sap or transmitting viruses. For each pest, it provides details on the appearance of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults to aid in identification. The pests covered include greasy cutworm, potato tuber moth, white grubs, tobacco caterpillar, green leafhopper, green peach aphid, whitefly, and Colorado potato beetle.

2. Potato Insects
A
Lecture To ToT trainees ( FFS)
By
Mr. Allah Dad Khan
Provincial Coordinator IPM KPK
MINFAL Pakistan

3.  Crop: PotatoScientific Name: Solanum
tuberosumFamily: Solanacae

4. Greasy Cutworm/ Black cut
worm: Agrotis ipsilon
 of damage:
 Young larvae feed on the epidermis of
the leaves
 Older larvae come out at night and
feed young plants by cutting their
stems
 They also damage the tubers by
eating away part of them
 Symptoms

5. Greasy Cutworm
Identification of pest:
Larva/Adult
 Eggs: Creamy white, dome-
shaped eggs, laid singly on
lower surface of the leaves
 Larvae: Newly emerged
young larva is yellow in colour.
The full-grown larva is dark or
dark brown with a plump and
greasy body.
 Pupa: Dark brown pupae are
found in earthen cells lying
underground in the potato
fields
 Adult: Dark with some grayish
patches on the back and dark
streaks on the forewings.

6. Potato tuber moth: Phthorimaea
operculellaSymptoms
Symptoms of damage:

 It is a pest of field and
storage
 Larva tunnels into
foliage, stem and tubers
 Galleries are formed
near tuber eyes

7. Potato tuber moth
Identification of pest:
Larva/Adult
 Egg: Laid singly on the
ventral surface of foliage
and exposed tubers
 Larva: Yellow coloured
caterpillar with dark brown
head
 Pupa: Pupation occurs
within a cocoon among the
trash, clods of the earth in
the field
 Adult: Small narrow
winged moth, greyish
brown forewings and hind
wings are dirty white

8. White grubs: Holotrichia sp.
Symptoms of damage:
 Grubs feed on roots and
tubers
 Grubs feed voraciously
during night time

9. White Grubs
Identification of pest:
 Larva: “C” shaped grub
 Adult: Brown beetle with
pale prothorax

10. Tobacco Caterpillar: Spodoptera
litura
 The young larvae first feed
gregariously and scrape the leaves
 Older larvae spread out and may
completely devour the leaves resulting
in poor growth of plants
 Symptoms of
damage:

11. Tobacco Caterpillar
Identification of pest
 Egg: Masses appear
golden brown
 Larva: Pale greenish
with dark markings
 Adult: Forewings are
brown in colour with
wavy white marking, hind
wings are white in colour
with a brown patch along
the margin

12. Green Leaf Hopper Empoasca
kerri
 Tips of affected leaves become brown,
turn upwards and get dried up
 Symptoms of
damage:

13. Green Leaf Hopper
Identification of pest:
 Egg: Elongated yellow-
white egg is deposited in
leaf vein.
 Nymph: Pale-green,
wedge shaped, winged
pads extend up to the
fifth abdominal segment
 Adult: It is a wedge
shaped and pale green
insect

14. Green peach aphid: Myzus
persicae
 Aphids suck sap of plants, as a result
of which leaves turn pale and dry up.
 This pest also transmits various viral
to potato plants
 Symptoms of
damage:

15. Green Peach Aphids
Identification of pest:
Nymph
 It resembles wingless
adult but the size is
small.
 Adult

16. Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci
 Nymphs suck sap from the leaves and
lower their vitality
 Yellowing and curling of leaf
 Sooty mould develops on affected
leaves
 Symptoms of
damage:

17. White Fly
Identification of pest:
 Egg: Smooth, sub elliptical,
stalked at broader basal
end with light yellow colour
when freshly laid, turn dark
brown later on
 Nymph: Pale-yellow in
colour
 Adult: It is small winged
insect having light yellow
colour. Wings are pure
white with prominent long
legs.

18. Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)
Symptoms
 The Colorado potato beetle is
the most distinctive pest of
potatoes. Both the yellow-and-
black striped adults and the
brick-red humped larvae feed
on the foliage. Feeding normally
is initiated on the terminal
growth and can be severe.
Adults overwinter and move to
emerging potatoes early in the
spring (May). The adults lay
bright yellow egg masses, and
larvae feed for several weeks in
the summer before pupating in
the soil. Emerging adults then
continue feeding throughout the
season until no vines remain.