Symptoms of damage:

• Freshly hatched larvae feed gregariously, scraping the chlorophyll, soon disperse
• Sometimes the feeding is so heavy that only petioles and branches are left behind

Identification of the pest:

• Egg: Egg masses appear golden brown
• Larva: Pale greenish with dark marking. Gregarious in the early stages
• Adult: Forewings are brown colour with wavy white marking, Hind wings are white colour with a brown patch along the margin

Management:

ETL: 8 egg masses/100 m row

• Grow castor as border or intercrop in groundnut fields to serve as indicator or trap crop
• Monitor the emergence of adult moths by setting up light and pheromone traps
• Collect egg masses and destroy
• Apply anyone of the following insecticides to control the early instar (1st to 3rd instar) larvae
• Carbaryl 50 WP 2.0 kg/ha
• Quinalphos 25 EC 750 ml/ha
• Dichlorvos 76 WSC 750 ml/ha
• Diflubenzuron 25 WP 300-400g/ha
• Neem oil (2%) 20 lit /ha
• Prepare a bait with the following materials to cover one ha. Rice bran 12.5 kg, Molasses or brown sugar 1.25 kg or carbaryl 50 WP 1.25 kg. Mix the ingredients to obtain a homogeneous mixture, Sprinkle water (7 lit.) gradually and bring the bait to a dough consistency. Distribute the above bait on the soil, around the field and inside in the evening
  hours immediately after preparation
• Apply Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus 3 x 10¹² POBs/ha
• Intercrop lab lab with groundnut 1:4 ratio
• Spray any one of the following insecticides:
• Imidacloprid 17.8% SL 100 -125 ml/ha
• Quinalphos 25% EC 1400 ml/ha