This document describes 12 insect pests that affect sorghum crops. It provides details on the appearance, lifecycle and damage caused by each pest, which includes stem borers, shoot flies, caterpillars, aphids, beetles and others. It also discusses integrated pest management strategies for sorghum like cultural, mechanical, nutrient and host plant resistance methods.

3. Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] - fifth cereal crop.
Grown mainly for
grain.
green plant.
crop residues.
Average yield - 1357 kg/ha.
(Source: FAO, 2004)
Reason
Hot dry climate, disease, insect pests.
150 insect sp. reported (ICRISAT, 1992; Sharma, 1993).

4. Yellow to buff in color.
Female of wingless form
deposits 60-100 nymphs.
Emerging pest problem.
Sugarcane Aphids
(1) Sugarcane Aphid (Melanaphis sacchari Zehnt.)
(Hemiptera: Aphididae)
Module: seedling pest

5. Crop damage
Feed on older leaves.
Also infests younger leaves and
ear-heads at the flowering stage.
Both adults and nymphs suck sap
- stunted plant growth.
Damage more severe - under
moisture stress.
Sugarcane Aphids on
sorghum earhead.

6. Moth has brownish fore wings
with dark specks - hind wings
are whitish-brown.
Lays egg in batches of 20 to
100 within the leaf sheath, and
leaf folds.
Eggs are shiny white spherical
- fine ridges.
Armyworm Moth
Source: CSIRO Entomology
(2) Armyworm (Mythimna separata Walk.)
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Module: Foliage Feeders

7. Fully grown larvae -
dirty pale brown to dark
brown, with three darker
brown dorsal lines.
Lateral yellow stripe on
each side.
Outbreaks - after heavy
rains, floods, and drought
following heavy rains.
Armyworm Larvae

8. Crop damage
Larvae feed leaves, leaving
midrib uneaten.
Immature ear-heads are also
damaged.
Attacks are sporadic if heavy,
an entire crop may be lost.
Armyworm damage

9. (3) Red hairy caterpillar (Amsacta moorei)
(Lepidoptera: Arctiidae)
Module: Foliage feeder
Moth has white fore wings
bearing brownish markings
and streaks and white hind
wings have black spots.
A moth lay up to 2300 eggs.
Adult Red hairy caterpillar

10. Eggs- Cream or bright yellow,
in masses on the lower
surfaces
of
leaves, on the soil, stones, bits
of wood, and on other
vegetation.
Larvae - white spots, dense
tufts of long hair, and a red
head.
Feed gregariously - lower
surface of leaves.
Fully grown larvae move from
plant to plant, field to field.
Egg mass
Larva Red hairy caterpillar

11. Small, gray colored fly
looks like a house fly.
Deposits small white,
cigar-shaped eggs, singly
on the undersurface of
leaf.
Shoot Fly Eggs
Shoot Fly Adult
(4) Sorghum Shoot Fly (Atherigona soccata Rond.)
(Diptera: Muscidae)
Module: Stem Pests

12. young whitish yellow maggot
feeds on decaying tissues.
Maggot enters through whorl
- destroy growing point.
Shoot Fly Maggot
Crop damage
Central leaf wilts and later
dries up - deadheart symptom.
Deadheart in sorghum

13. Deadheart easily pulled out,
emits a bad smell.
Damage occurs - 1 week to
about 1 month.
Attack little later - side tillers.
Late sowing cause 22-80% loss
(Taneja and Nwanze 1994).
Side tillers due to shoot
fly attack

14. Medium sized and straw
colored - most serious.
Female lays nearly 500 eggs
in masses on the undersurface
of leaf, near the midrib.
Eggs are flattish, oval -
overlap like fish scales.
Stem Borer moth and
pupa
Egg masses
(5) Spotted Stem Borer (Chilo partellus Swin.)
(Lepidoptera : Pyralidae)
Module: Stem Pests

15. First indication - small
elongated holes in young
whorl leaves.
Windows due to
stem borer attack
Plant become very
ragged in appearance.

16. Tunnels into the stem
and eat the central
portion.
Larvae bore into the
stem and shot-holes
appear.

17. Growing point is killed and
deadheart symptoms appear in
whorl leaves.

18. Also attacks earheads.
Tunneling of earheads
breakage or complete or
partial chaffyness.
Infests crop - second week
till maturity (Singh,1997).
Cause 20-100% loss (Taneja
and Nwanze, 1994).
Breakage of earheads
due to stem borer
attack.

19. Moth is fawn colored, with dark
brown streaks on fore wings and
white on hind wings.
Female lays about 150 eggs in
rows between the leaf sheath and
the stem.
Eggs are creamy-white and
hemispherical.
Pink Borer Moth
(6) Pink Borer (Sesamia inferens)
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Module : Stem Pests

20. Larva is pale yellow have
purple pink tinge - reddish-
brown head.
Pink Borer Larvae
Pink Borer damage
Crop damage
Bores into the stem and kills
the central shoot, - deadhearts.

21. One species - small white
moth which lays eggs at night.
Other with dark gray
forewings, hind wings fringed
with hairs, larger than the fore
wings.
Webworm Moths
(7) Earhead Webworms (Cryptoblabes sp.)
(Lepidoptera: Pyraustidae)
Module: Earhead Pests

22. The young caterpillar
dark gray with hairs.
The caterpillars of other -
dark brown.
.
Webworm Larvae

23. Crop damage
Damage seeds in earheads,
remain inside the webs formed
from excreta and silken threads.
Webworm damage
Lower the quality of grains.

24. Beetles are bright metallic blue,
green, black, and yellow or
brown .
When disturbed emit a fluid
containing cantharidine.
Female lays large number of
eggs 2,000-10,000 on the ground
or in the soil.
Long-legged larvae attack
other insect eggs.Adult Blister Beetle
(8) Blister Beetles (Zonabris phalarata)
(Coleoptera: Meloidae)
Module: Earhead Pests

25. Crop Damage
General feeders, feed on
flowers and tender panicles,
preventing grain formation.
Blister Beetle feeding
on sorghum flowers

26. Female is yellowish green.
Lays 150-200, long cigar-
shaped eggs under the glumes
of the sorghum florets.
Adult Earhead Bug
(9) Earhead Bug (Calocoris angustatus)
(Hemiptera: Miridae)
Module: Earhead Pests

27. Both nymphs and adults infest
earheads.
Grain attacked early stage is
shriveled, reducing crop yield.
Older grain shows feeding
punctures.
Sorghum grain damage
due to Earhead Bug

28. (10) Sorghum midge (Contarinia sorghicola)
(Diptera: Cecidomyidae)
Module:Earhead pest
Adult
Tiny fly - yellow head,
brown antennae and legs, an
orange-red thorax and
abdomen, and grayish hyaline
wings
Female lays about 75 eggs -
flowering spikelets.

29. Orange maggot feeding
newly fertilized ovary
preventing seed development.
Fly hover around the ear
head - early or late hours of
day.
Infestation identified from
the red ooze.
Pupal skin remains at the tip
of the spikelet.

30. High infestations - flowering
times are extended.
Under severe infestation,
earhead blasted with chaffy
head appearance.

31. Moth is large, and brown or gray
with specks form a V-shaped mark
on fore wings.
Hind wings - dull-colored, with
black border.
Female moth lays spherical
yellowish eggs in singles .
Young larvae are whitish-green.
Bollworm moth
(11) Corn ear worm (Helicoverpa sp.)
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Module: Earhead Pests

32. Bollworm larva
Crop damage
Larvae infest both whorls and
earheads.
Damage to leaves not affect yield.
Infestation of earheads more serious
feed on developing seeds.
Small larvae first feed on florets, then
hollow out developing seeds.
80% damage by grownup larvae.

33. (12) White grub (Holotrichia consanguinea)
(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
Module: seed and root pest
They are small reddish
brown beetles, feed leaves.
Female adults lays egg in
soil in cluster.
White Grubs

34. Larvae C”- shaped white
translucent body and brown
head.
Fully grown larvae larger
than a thumb.
Feed on soil organic
matter then cut and eat
plant roots.
Plants will wilt and die.
One white grub destroy
0.3 to 0.5 m of a row of a
plant.

35. Module: Storage Pests
Primary pest
(1) Rice Weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
(2) Lesser Grain Borer, Rhyzopretha dominica (Coleoptera:
Bostrichidae)
(3) Angoumois Grain Moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Lepidoptera:
Gelechidae)
Secondary pest
(4) Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera:
Tenebrionids)
(5) Rice Moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Lepidoptera: pyralidae)

36. IPM
Encompassing all available control measure.
Insect pest complex of sorghum – seedling stage to
maturity (Teetes and Pendleton, 2000).
Pyrilla or Sugarcane leaf hopper -Pyrilla perpusilla
(Hemiptera: Lophopidae)- serious pest of sorghum (Mathur,
1993).
20% of IPM in field (Rabindra, 2004).

37. Cultural Control
Cultural practices
Early sowing - against shoot fly, ear head bug, army
worm, corn ear worm, stem borer, aphid and midge
infestation.
High seed rate - shoot fly.
Clean cultivation, (lower plant population) army worm
damage.
Removal and uprooting of infested plants shoot fly ,stem
borer, pink borer, army worm, pyrilla and aphids.

38. Mixed crop with cowpea (pulse crop) –stem borer.
Sorghum benefits most rotated with broadleaf or
taprooted crop cotton, Gossypium hirsutum or
soybean, Glycine max.
Damage of midge higher - low plant densities.
Ploughing during summer, collection and destruction
of egg masses - hairy caterpillar population.
Destroying food sources and overwintering habitats
sorghum midge, sorghum webworm.

39. Barnyard grass.
During off-season, shoot fly and midge
survives on volunteer, fodder sorghums,
weeds - pulling out minimize problem.
Barnyard grass - shoot fly, stem borer
head bug.
Johnson grass - midge, aphid.
Uprooting, burning stubbles and
chopping of stems - pink borer and
spotted stem borer.

40. Mechanical practicesMechanical practices
Migrating larvae ofMigrating larvae of hairy caterpillarhairy caterpillar checked bychecked by diggingdigging
trenchestrenches..
Use ofUse of light trapslight traps -- hairy caterpillar moth and adulthairy caterpillar moth and adult
stem borerstem borer..
HangingHanging fish meal trapfish meal trap–– Shoot fly.Shoot fly.
Deep ploughingDeep ploughing kills overwintering larvae, pupaekills overwintering larvae, pupae
sorghum midge, corn ear wormsorghum midge, corn ear worm andand web wormweb worm..
Hand picking, collection and destruction ofHand picking, collection and destruction of hairyhairy
caterpillarcaterpillar andand blister beetle.blister beetle.

41. Nutrient management
Grow - healthy, vigorously growing sorghum plants.
Application of iron for healthy sorghum.
Fertilizer (High dose) - plants attractive to insect pests.
Planting when conditions are favorable – aphid.
Foliar damage (whorl stage) - army worm greater in
acidic soil.
Phosphatic fertilizer - shoot fly.
High level of water stress - shoot fly.
Nitrogen fertilizer - Shoot fly and Stem borer.

42. Host plant resistance
Open-type panicles less
affected - ear head bug.
Uniform sowing - midge.
Varieties like SPH 837,
ICSV 745, resistance to
sorghum midge (Sharma
and Hariprasad, 2002).
Open panicles exposed to
predaceous insects and
birds – Corn ear worm.

43. Host plant resistant – backbone of insect pest
management ( Sharma et al. 1993, 2003).
Varieties mature as early and uniformly - midge, corn
earworm, armyworm, sorghum webworm, and borer.
Seed germination of eighty percent should be used.
Multiple resistance sources (shoot fly, stem borer,
midge and head bug) – PFGS 97, 98, 100 (Kishore,
2001).
Aphid, transmit maize dwarf mosaic virus - virus-
resistant varieties.

44. Hybrids – more susceptible to insect (Sharma et al.
2004 and Dhillon, 2004).
Resistance variety and hybrids - ICRISAT
S.No. Insect pests Resistance variety/hybrids
1 Shoot fly ICSV 700, 701, 705, 25001 /
ICSB 415, 418, 432
2 Midge ICSV 197, 239, 305, 25163/
ICSB 488, 493, 508, 541
3 Stem borer ICSV 700, 711, 714, 25162 /
ICSB 464, 467, 472
4 Head bug ICSV 25245, 25247, 25250/
ICSB 547, 548, 550, 552
(Source : ISMN 2005)

45. Iron-tolerant varieties used.
Rapid seed germination - sugarcane aphid and white
grub.
Resistance against midge positively corelated with size
of floral parts.
Semicompact, compact panicles-increased infestation –
Ear head bug.
Sorghum varities – IS 1044, 2123, 1054, 18573 and
ICSV 714 – antibiosis to spotted stem borer (Kumar et
al. 2006).

46. Adults are semi- or
hemispherical.
Orange, red, or black, and
spotted or marked with
contrasting colors.
Hibernate as adults.
Convergent Ladybird Beetles
Ladybird Beetles ( Coleoptera : Coccinellidae)
Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens (Guerin-
Meneville); Scymnus Lady Beetle, Scymnus loewii (Mulsant)
Biological control
Module: Predators

47. Ladybird Beetle Eggs
Females lay 200-1000
yellow eggs in clusters .
Scymnus lady beetles lay
eggs singly
The larvae are elongate, tapering
Posterior.
Dark with bright markings,bodies
covered with spines.
Larvae of scymnus lady beetles-
long streamers of white wax.
Ladybird Beetle Larva

48. Both adults and larvae are
beneficial.
Predacious on aphids, eggs and
small larvae of insects.
Most beneficial reproduce rapidly,
voracious feeders.
Larvae devour 11-25 and adults
16-56 aphids in a day.
Ladybird Beetle
feeding on aphids

49. Large big - eyed Bug,
(Hemiptera:Lygaeidae)
Geocoris bullatus -prey on
small insects.
.
Large big eyed bug
Predaceous Bugs : Large Big-eyed Bug, Geocoris bullatus
(Say); Minute Pirate Bug, Orius tristicolor (White); Common
Damsel Bug, Nabis americoferus (Carayon);

50. Minute Pirate Bug,
(Hemiptera:Anthocoridae)
Orius tristicolor - feed on
insect eggs, newly-hatched
larvae nymphs, small
insects.
Damsel bug (Hemiptera:
Nabidae)
(Nabis americoferus) - hide
among foliage or in flowers,
eat aphids, caterpillars, and
other insects.

51. Very large group - flower flies,
hover flies, and sweat flies.
Adults pollinate plants.
Adult Syrphid Fly
Syrphid Fly, Syrphus confractor (Diptera: Syrphidae)

52. Elongate, legless, and slug-like,
common among aphid colonies.
Moving slowly - grab the aphids
singly with pointed jaws, raising
and slowly sucking out body
contents, discarding empty skin.
Larvae destroy aphids one per
minute.
Syrphid fly larva

53. Greenish or yellowish-green
color, delicate, lace-like wings,
shining golden eyes.
Adult
Green Lacewing
Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperla spp.)
(Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

54. Larvae have elongate spindle-
shaped mandibles, puncturing and
extracting the body fluids.
Called aphis lions, - aphids, small
larvae, soft-bodied insects or eggs.
Lacewing Larva

55. The most valuable insect parasites
Hymenoptera
• Chalcid Wasps (Chalcididae)
• Braconid Wasps (Braconidae)
• Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonidae)
Diptera
• Tachinid Flies (Tachinidae)
Insect Parasites
Module: Parasites
Chalcid Wasps
Live inside minute insects, eggs of insects, aphids and
caterpillars.
Braconid Wasps
Most common and important - Lysiphlebus testaceipes
(Cresson).

56. Ichneumonid Wasps
wasp-like have long ovipositors.
Internal parasite - immature
stages of insect.
Ichneumonid
Wasp
Ichneumonid wasp
parasitizing larvae

57. Tachinid Flies (Diptera : Tachinidae)
Resemble an overgrown house fly.
Adult feed - foliage or flowers.
Lay eggs glued to host or on foliage.
Hatched larvae also deposited on or
in victim.
Tachinid Fly

58. Reduviid bug and lygaeid bug - ear
head bug.
Apanteles ruficrus larval parasite -
army worm.
Trichogramma sp. –egg parasitiod
– spotted stem borer and ball
worm.
Apanteles sp. and Microbracon sp.
– Larval parasitoid – Spotted stem
borer.
Artificial proteinaceous honeydew
-attract chrysopid, syrphid adult
and arrest coccinellids (Whitman,
1988).
reduviid bug
Trichogramma parasitizing egg
(H. armigera)

59. Microbial controlMicrobial control
Baculovirus @ 11.6 x 10Baculovirus @ 11.6 x 101010
OBs/ 0.4 ha - singleOBs/ 0.4 ha - single
application - excellent control.application - excellent control.
Bacillus thuringiensisBacillus thuringiensis var.var. morrisonimorrisoni (toxin) –(toxin) –shootshoot
flyfly (Sharma(Sharma et alet al. 2004a ).. 2004a ).
B. thuringiensisB. thuringiensis (toxin) – Cry 1 Ac and Cry 2 A –(toxin) – Cry 1 Ac and Cry 2 A –
spotted stem borerspotted stem borer (Sharma(Sharma et alet al. 2004a).. 2004a).
B. thuringiensisB. thuringiensis (toxin) – Cry 1 Ac–(toxin) – Cry 1 Ac– Head caterpillarHead caterpillar --
(Sharma(Sharma et alet al. 2004a).. 2004a).

60. Botanicals
Karanja powder or extract- stem borer, hairy caterpillar
(Arora and Dhaliwal, 1994).
Custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) plant extract-
feeding deterent –hairy caterpillar.
Neem seed kernel- safe to Tetrastichus sp. ( parasitoid
of midge) and Orius sp. (predator of midge).
Neem oil – safe to syrphids and coccinellids.
Neemark, Repelin and nicotine sulphate – safe to
coccinellids – highly-toxic - Tetrastichus coccinellae
(hyperparasite).
Elcar (Sandoz Inc.) - Helicoverpa sp.

61. Chemical Control
powerful tools - insect pests of sorghum.
Sorghum treated seed (systemic insecticide)- seed-
feeding and seedling insect pests
Herbicides - johnson grass and barnyard grass.
Carbaryl and Fenthion - blister beetle adults, ear head
bug ,ear head web worm and hairy caterpillar.
Need-based application- either Carbofuran 3G or
Carbaryl 4G at 8 and 12 kg/ha respectively - pink borer
and spotted stem borer.
Poison bait - hairy caterpillar, (10 kg rice bran,1 kg
jaggery and 1 liter Quinolphos).

62. Late plantings, Carbofuran 3 G or Phorate 10G at 20
kg/ha seed furrows – shoot fly.
Seed treatment - Systemic insecticide (Crusier –
thiamethoxam, 50% a.i., Gaucho – imidacloprid, 40.7%
a.i.) – Insect pest complex - 80 – 90% yield (Brown et
al. 2001).
Insecticide cause phytotoxicity – Dichlorvos, methyl
parathion, monocrotophos and phosphamidon.
Biotechnological approach
Sorghum plant having Cry 1 Ac – developed at ICRISAT
( Giriraj shankar et al. 2005)
Secondary plant metabolites (flavonoids) – implicated in
sorghum (Heller and Forkman, 1993).

63. IPM for storage pest
Destroy 10-15 % of grain, contaminate the rest.
Hygiene store house – brushing (cracks, corners).
Minimum damage - grain moisture below 12%.
Grain moisture less than 9% - insect unable to breed.
Chemical practices
Treat walls of empty godown – Malathion 50 EC.
Fumigation (Aluminium phosphide) @ 3 tablets (3g) /tonne grain
Other chemicals – Ethylene di bromide, Ethylene di chloride.
Karanja oil (Pongamia pinnata) surface protectant- storage pest-
Lesser grain borer, Grain moth @ 1% complete protection.
Monoterpenoids - stored product insects (Tripathi, 2004).

65. Thank you