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Crop Protection :: Pests of Cucurbits

Diamond back moth: Plutella xylostella
Symptoms of damage
  • Young caterpillars cause small yellow mines on leaves
  • Scrapping of epidermal leaf tissues producing typical whitish patches on leaves
  • Full-grown larvae bite holes in the leaves and feeds on curd
Affected curd

Scrabbing the leaves


Identification of pest
  • Egg - minute yellow coloured eggs.
  • Eggs laid singly or in groups – upper surface of leaves.
  • Larva - Pale yellowish green caterpillar
  • Pupa: Pupation takes place on the foliage in a transparent cocoon
  • Adult
  • It is a small greyish brown moth
  • Forewings - has three white triangular spots along the inner-margin
  • When at rest the triangular markings of opposite wings gives diamond shape
  • Hind wings – have a fringe of long fine hairs
Larva
Adult

Management
  • Remove and destroy all debris and stubbles after harvest of crop
  • Grow mustard as trap crop at 2:1 ratio (cabbage: mustard) to attract DBM for oviposition at least 10 days ahead of   planting of main crop
  • Spray mustard crop with dichlorvos 76 WSC 0.076%   to  avoid dispersal of the larvae
  • Pheromone traps @ 12/ha
  • Crop rotation with cucurbits, beans, peas, tomato and melon
  • Larval parasitoid: Diadegma semiclausm @ 1,00000/ha (Hills – below 25 –27º C) Cotesia plutellae(plains) at 20000/ha release from 20 days after planting
  •  Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki 2g/lit
  •  Neem seed kernel extract 5%
  • Cartap hydrochloride 0.5% at 10,20 and 30 DAS (nursery) and primordial stage
Insecticide Dose
Azadirachtin 5% Neem Extract Concentrate 5.0 ml/10 lit.
Lufenuron 5.4 % EC 1.2 ml/lit.
Spinosad 2.5 % SC 1.2 ml/lit.
Trichlorofon 50 % EC 1.0 ml/lit.

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Cabbage borer: Hellula undalis
Symptoms of damage
  • The larva webs the leaves and bore into the stem, stalks or leaf veins
Webbing

Bore hole on the stem


Identification of pest
  • Egg:  Yellow shiny eggs – on the leaves
  • Larva: Full grown larva- greyish –yellow with seven purplish –brown longitudinal stripes
  • Adult: Pale greyish brown moth with wavy grey markings
Larvae

Adult


Management
  • Collect and destroy mechanically caterpillars in the early stages of attack
  • Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2g/lit at primordial stage
  • Cartap hydrochloride @ 500g /ha or malathion 50EC @500ml/ha

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Leaf webber: Crocidolomia binotalis

Symptoms of damage
  • Young larva feeds gregariously on leaves
  • Later webs together the leaves feed within
Larval webbing the head

Larval scrabbing the leaves


Identification of pest
  • Egg: laid in groups under surface of leaves.
  • Larva: green coloured
  • Pupa: pupation takes place within the webbed up leaves

Adult

  • Forewings having distinct wavy lines and prominent wavy spots
  • Hind wings - semi hyaline colour
Larva

Adult


Management
  • Remove and destroy the webbed leaves with caterpillars within
  • Set up light traps@ 1/ ha
  • Encourage the activity  of parasitoid: Cotesia crocidolomiae
  • Spray  malathion 50 EC @ 0.1% or carbaryl 0.2%

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Cabbage green semilooper: Trichoplusia ni

Symptoms of damage
  • Scrabbing of leaves initially and defoliation

Identification of pest
  • Egg - Greenish –white, spherical and sculptured eggs.
  • Eggs laid singly on ventral surface of leaves.
  • Larva - Slender and green in colour with light wavy lines
  • Adult: Stout, brown moth, head and thorax grey in colour, abdomen white
  • Forewings grey wavy in colour with a slendery – marking
Larva

Adult


Management
  • Hand pick and destroy the caterpillars
  • Set up  light  trap @1/ha
  • Spray insecticides like malathion 50EC @ 0.1% ha

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Cabbage butterfly: Pieris brassicae, P.rapae

Symptoms of damage
  • Defoliation
  • Bores into the heads of cabbage

Identification of pest
  • Velvetty bluish green in colour with black dots
  • Yellow dorsal and lateral stripes covered with white hairs.
  • Pupa: chrysalis which takes place in leaves and stem.
  • Adult: White butterfly
Eggs
Larvae
Pupa
Adult

Management
  • Collect and destroy caterpillars in the early stage of attack
  •  Conserve parasitoids like  Cotesia glomeratus
  • Spray  insecticides like quinalphos 25EC @ 1000 ml

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Tobacco caterpillar: Spodoptera litura

Symptoms of damage
  • Damage leaves and heads of cabbage and cauliflower
  • Damage leaves of radish and beet root

Identification of pest
  • Egg: -masses appear golden brown
  • Larva:-
  • Young caterpillars are light green with black head or black spots
  • Gregarious in the early stages
  • Well grown caterpillars are grey or dark brown
  • Adult:-
  • Forewings – brown colour with wavy white marking
  • Hindwings-  white colour with a brown patch along the margin

 

Larva
Adult

Management
  • Plough the soil to expose and kill the pupae
  • Grow castor along border and irrigation channel as trap crop
  • Flood the field to drive out the hibernating larvae
  • Set up light trap @1/ha
  • Pheromone traps (Pherodin SL) @ 15/ ha to attract male moths
  • Collect and destroy egg masses in castor and tomato
  • Hand pick grown up larvae and kill them
  • Spray Sl NPV @ 1.5 X 1012 POBs / ha + 2.5 Kg crude sugar + 0.1 % teepol
  • Poison bait:
  • Rice bran 5 Kg + Molasses or Brown sugar 500g + Carbaryl 50 WP 500g+ 3lit of water/ha
  • Mix the ingredients well – Kept around the field in the evening hours
  • Spray chlorpyriphos 20 EC 2lit/ha or dichlorovos 76 WSC 1 lit/ha

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Cabbage aphid:Brevicoryne brassicae
Symptoms of damage
  • Yellowing
  • Crinkling and cupping
  • Distorted primordia
  • Presence of white cast skin at the base of the plant

Identification of pest
  • Nymphs and adults yellowish green with wavy white filament over the body
Larva
Adult

Management
  • Install yellow sticky trap @12 no/ha to monitor “macropterous” adults (winged adult).
  • Spray neem oil 3 % with 0.5 ml Teepol/lit or any one of the following insecticide
Insecticide
Dose
Azadirachtin 0.03% WSP (300 ppm) 5.0 g/lit.
Dimethoate 30 % EC 6.0 ml/10 lit.
Malathion 50 % EC 1.5 ml/lit.
Phosalone 35 % EC 1.5 ml/lit.
Quinalphos 25 % EC 1.0 ml/lit.

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Mustard aphid: Lipaphis erysimi

Symptoms of damage
  • Both nymph and adults suck the sap from leaves, buds and pods.
  • Curling of infested leaves and at advanced stage plants may wither and die.
  • Plants remain stunted and sooty molds grow on the honey dew excreted by the insects.
Leaf mining

Identification of pest
  • Aphids - are small, soft-bodied, pearl-shaped insects

Management
  • Set up yellow stick trap to monitor aphid population.
  • Conserve the natural enemies viz., Cocciniella septempunctata, Menochilus sexmaculata,
  • Spray dimethoate@ 2 ml /lit


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