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Tobacco caterpillar: Spodoptera litura
Symptoms of damage
- Scrapping of the leaves by freshly hatched larvae.
- Grown up larvae feed the entire leaf leaving petioles alone looks the field grazed by cattle.
Identification of the pest
- Egg: Golden brown eggs laid in masses covered with hairs.
- Larva: Stout, cylindrical, greenish brown larvae with dark markings \.
- Pupa: Pupate in earthen cocoon inside the soil.
- Adult: Stout moth with wavy white markings on the brown forewings and a brown patch along the margin in white hindwings.
- Nocturnal habit, larvae hide under the plants, cracks and crevices of soil and debris during day time.
- Faecal pellets found on the leaves and ground is the indication of the pest incidence
- Management
ETL: 8 egg masses /100 m row
- Follow summer ploughing to expose pupae to sunlight and bird.
- Grow castor as a border (or) intercrop to serve as an indicator (or) trap crop.
- Install light trap @ 1 /ha to monitor moths activity.
- Install pheromone traps (Pherodin SL) @ 5 nos. / ac to monitor and kill male moths.
- Collect and destroy egg masses, early stage larvae with lace-like leaves.
- Avoid larvae migration by digging a trench of 30 cm deep and 25 cm wide with perpendicular sides around the infested fields.
- Spray SlNPV at 1.5 x 1012 POB per ha @ 250 LE during evening hours.
- Spray any one of the following insecticides either in the early morning or in the evening
- Spray BSKE 5 %
- Quinalphos 20 AF @ 500 ml/ac
- Flubendiamide 20 WG 120 g/ac
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Larva |
Leaf damage |
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Egg mass |
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