ENT-313 (HO):

Insect Pests of Vegetables, Ornamental and Spice Crops

Lecture-1
 Economic Importance of Insects
We can divide insects in two categories- A. Beneficial insects B. Harmful insects

A. Beneficial insects B. Harmful insects

Productive insects - Helpful insects -
1) Silk worm 1) Parasites 1) Plant/ Crop pests
2) Honey bee 2) Predators 2) Household pests
3) Lac insects 3) Pollinators 3) Store grain pests
4) Insects useful as drugs/medicine 4) Weed killers 4) Human and animal pests
5) Insects useful as food 5) Soil builders
6) Insects useful as Ornaments and 6) Scavengers
entertainments
7) Insects useful as Scientific research
A. Beneficial insects -
1. Productive insects-
i) Silk worm: The silkworm filament secreted from the salivary gland of the larva helps us in producing silk.
ii) Honey bee: Honey bee provides honey and many others by products like bees wax, royal jelly and bee venom etc.
iii) Lac insects: The secreted from the body of these scale insects is called lac. It is useful in making varnishes and
polishes.

iv) Insects useful as drugs/medicine: Since ancient times, products derived from insects have been used long in
medicine. Some insects and their products used as medicine- like
Insects / insect products Uses
Maggots Wounds Healing
Honey Wounds Healing, skin disease, infection
Royal-jelly Post Menopausal symptoms
Ant venom Joints pain
Propolis Infection
Eanthoridin- extracted from blister beetle Useful as hair tonic
v) Insects useful as food: Example- ants, termites, grass hoppers, caterpillars, crickets, nymphs of dragon fly and
pupae of moths are used as food by human beings in many countries. And in Thailand the pupa of silkworm are used as
food for human being.
 vi) Insects useful as Ornaments and entertainments: Beetle worms are used as necklace. Many artists and
designers copy the colour patterns of butterflies.
vii) Insects useful as Scientific research: Drosophila and mosquitoes are useful in the genetic and toxicological
studies.

2. Helpful insects-
i) Parasites: These are small insects which feed and live on harmful insects by completing their life cycle in a host and
kill the host insect. Example-
Egg parasitoid: e.g. Trichogramma chilinis (Trichogrammatidae) on the eggs of cotton bollworm and rice leaf folder.
Larval parasitoid: e.g. Bracon hebetor and B. brevicornis (Braconidae) on Coconut black headed caterpillar.
Cotesia plutella (Braconidae) on the larvae of diamond back moth

Egg-larval parasitoid: e.g. Chelonus blackburni (Braconidae) on cotton spotted bollworm.

Larval-pupal parasitoid: e.g. Isotima javensis (Ichneumonidae) on pupal stage of top shoot borer of sugarcane.
Pupal parasitoid: Brachymeria nephatidis (Chalcidae) on pupal stage of coconut black headed caterpillar.

Adult parasitoid: Encarsia formosa (Aphelinidae) on the cotton whitefly.

ii) Predators: These are large insects which capture and devour harmful insects.
Example- Lady bird beetle, Preying mantids, Lace wing bug, Syrphid fly, Rove beetle etc.
iii) Pollinators: A pollinator is an insect or other agent that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the
female stigma of a flower. Example- honey bees, bumblebees, pollen wasps, ants, flies, hoverflies, both butterflies and
moths, flower beetles etc. Out of all insects pollinators, honey bees are most important, they responsible for 80% of
pollination activity.

iv) Weed killers: Many insects which help in controlling weeds by feeding.
Sr. No. Bio – agents Weeds
1. Leaf beetle (Octotoma scabripennis) Lantana camara
Leaf-mining chrysomelids (Uroplata gualdi)
2. Common crap (Cyprimus carpio) Aquatic weed
Chinese crap (Neochetina sp.)
3. Sea-cow Water hyacinth
4. Parthenium beetle (Zygogramma bicolorata) Parthenium (Congress)

v) Soil builders: Soil insects such as ants, beetles, larva of cutworms, crickets make tunnels in soil and facilitate
aeration in soil. They become good manure after death and enrich soil. Excreta of insects also maintaining the quality of
soil.

vi) Scavengers: Insects which feed on dead and decaying matter of plants and animals are called as scavengers.
Insects help in the biochemical cycling of the nutrients. Example- Bark beetle, water scavenger beetle, Termites, Ants etc.
B. Harmful insects -

i) Plant/ Crop pests: (Aphids, jassids, whitefly, pod borer, semilooper, fruit fly, cater pillar etc)

ii) Household pests: (Carpet beetles, furniture beetles, cloth moth, termites and silverfish)

iii) Store grain pests: The most common insect pests of stored cereal grains are: Rice Weevil (Sitophilus

oryzae); Lesser Grain Borer (Rhyzopertha dominica); Rust Red Flour Beetle: (Tribolium spp.); Flat Grain Beetle:

(Cryptolestes spp.); Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella); Angoumois Grain Moth (Sitotroga cerealella);

Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium); Rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica).

iv) Human and animal pests: (Mosquitos, flea, beetles, flies)

 Ecological bases of Pest Management:
Ecology: Study of complex interactions between living organisms and nonliving environment in a particular place.
Ecosystem: The complex interacting system between living and nonliving factors is called as ecosystem.
Concepts of IPM:
 Avoidance of economic damage with minimum affects on the environment
 IPM: In simple language IPM is the utilization of all possible control tactics to suppress the pest
population below economic injury level with minimum adverse impacts on environment.
 Economic Injury Level (EIL): It is the minimum pest population which causes the economic
damage.
 Economic damage: The damage caused by the pest to a crop which justifies the cost of control
or in other words it is the damage equal to the cost of control.
 Economic Threshold Level (ETL): It is the pest population where control measures should be
initiated to prevent the pest population in reaching the EIL.
Basic necessities in IPM:
 Measurement of pest population intensity.
 Determining the influence of natural enemies on the pest
population
 Crop loss assessment by the pest
 Monitoring of pest population for decision making.
  Cultural control:
Components of IPM: - Summer ploughing
- Growing resistant cultivars
- Planting and harvesting time
- Sanitation
- Plant diversity
- Trap cropping
- Crop rotation
- Nutrient and water management
 Mechanical control:
- Hand picking
- Exclusion by screens and barriers
- Clipping and pruning
 Physical control:
- Hot and cold treatment
- Light trapping
 Legal control:
- Legislation for foreign quarantine to prevent the introduction of new
pests from abroad.
Components of IPM:
 Biological control:
- Predators: Lady bird beetles, syrphid flies, lace wings, etc.
- Parasitoids: Trichogramma spp, Apanteles spp, Bracon spp etc
- Bacteria: Bacillus thuringiensis
- Viruses: NPVs and GVs have been successfully used.
- Fungi:
Beauveria bassiana: Against beetles and caterpillars
Metarhizium anisopliae: Against beetles and caterpillars
Nomuraea rileyi: Against caterpillars
Verticillium lecanii: Against sucking pests
Paecelomyces sp: Against sucking pests
- Botanicals: Neem, Rotenone, Sabadilla, Nicotine, Chrysanthemum etc.
Components of IPM:
 Chemical control:
Use of chemicals (insecticides) for the killing of insects. It includes insecticides,
Acaricides, Rodenticides etc. Important groups of insecticides are
- Organochlorines: DDT
- Organophosphates: Acephate, Chlorpyriphos, Dichlorvos, Dimethoat etc.
- Carbamates: Carbofuran, Carbaryl, Thiodicarb, Carbosulfan etc.
- Synthetic pyrethroids: Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Lamda cyhalothrin etc.
- Neonicotinoids: Dinotefuran, Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam etc.
- Miscellaneous groups: Spinosad, Chlorfenapyr, Buprofezin, Fipronil, Pymetrozine etc.
 Other components:
- Use of sex pheromones for monitoring, mass trapping, mating disruption and
auto confusing the target pests.
- Use of botanical pesticides especially neem based insecticides.
- Need based, safe and judicious use of synthetic pesticides.
Advantages of IPM:
 It provides sustainable control of the pest and also adds to
sustainable crop productivity.
 It is economically viable and is affordable by marginal
farmers.
 It is environmentally safe.
 Less health hazards.
 Social and political stability
 Quality produce with minimum pesticide residues and
hence will enhance the export of agricultural commodities
 Survey, Surveillance and forecasting of pests
Survey: A Survey is defined as a research method used for collecting data from a pre-
defined group of respondents (or place) to gain information and insights on various
topics of interest.

Surveillance: When survey of the same area/plot or locality is carried out at regular
intervals to record some observations or to ascertain the changes in the subject of
study, it is called as surveillance. In other words pest surveillance is the close and
constant vigil on insect population in a particular area.
Objectives of survey and surveillance:
• To monitor the pest population regularly to arrive at a decision whether control measures are
required or not, if required when to initiate the control measures.

• Pest forecasting with reasonable precision.

• Endemic areas of various pests may also be marked
• To predict future population trends or the corresponding potential damage to the crops or both
Types of (pest) survey:
Based on method of survey-

1. Roving survey-
- Assessment of pest population/damage from randomly selected spots representing
larger area
- Large area surveyed in short period
- Provides information on pest level over large area

2. Fixed plot survey-

Assessment of pest population/damage from a fixed plot selected in a field. The
data on pest population/damage recorded periodic from sowing till harvest.
Survey based on the objective-

– Qualitative: To identify the different insect

species present over an area or their density
whether abundant, common, rare, in traces, etc
(Useful for detection of pest)

– Quantitative: To estimate the exact number of

one or more species of insects in time and space.
(Useful for enumeration of pest)
Sampling insect populations:
Sampling unit:
• Sampling unit is a portion of the habitat from which insect counts are to be made.
e.g. a plant, branch, leaves or fruiting bodies, a clump, a micro plot of 1 m2, etc.

Number of aphid/
Number of aphid/ Leaf
2 cm Twig

Sample: A group of sampling units from which an estimate is made.

Methods of sampling:
• In situ counts- Visual observation on number of insects on plant canopy (either entire plot
or randomly selected plot)

• Knock down – (By jarring, by chemicals, by heating)

Collecting insects from an area by removing from crop and (Sudden trap) counting (Jarring)
Sudden Trapping

• Eg: Polythene bags are used to monitor sorghum ear head bug on sorghum ear heads by sudden covering
• Netting - Sweep netting
- Vacuum netting
- Aerial netting
Sweep net/ Aerial net / Aquatic net

Eg: 10 net sweeps are sufficient to assess

the general population of any insect.
• Trapping-
▪ Light trap - Phototropic insects
▪ Bait trap - Sorghum shoot fly
▪ Pheromone trap - Species specific
▪ Water trap - Sucking insects
▪ Sticky trap - Sucking insects
▪ Fishmeal trap - For soil insects
▪ Suction trap - Whitefly
▪ Window trap
▪ Pitfall trap
 Pest Forecasting
The pest surveillance programmes are highly useful in forecasting of the pests. It is the advance
knowledge of probable infestation by the pests in a crop.
Insect forecasting may serve:
1. To predict the forthcoming infestation levels of a pest which is very useful in taking control measures
2. To find out the critical stages at which the application of insecticides would afford maximum protection.

Two types of pest forecasting-

1. Short term forecasting: Covers one or two seasons mainly based on the populations of the
pest within the crop by sampling methods.
2. Long term forecasting: It covers large areas and based mainky on the possible effects of
weather on the insect abundance.

Forecasting is made through -

1. Population studies carried over several years.
2. Studies on the pest life history.
3. Field studies on the effect of climate on the pest and its environment.
Different types of Pest Surveillance Tools
• Sudden trapping
• Screen Traps
• Light Traps
• Water traps
• Suction traps
• Sticky traps
• Bait traps
• Pitfall traps
Screen Traps
Forest insect traps
Forest bark beetle traps
 Forest insect trapping

Cross Vane Panel Trap

Ideal for trapping large wood-boring beetles and wood
wasps, as well as other bark and timber beetles
Purple trap

Purple insect trap

These traps are used to control Emerald Ash
Borer and the Asian Long Horn Beetle – non-
toxic glue
Light traps
 Light trap

Light traps
Used to control Helicoverpa armigera, cut worm
Water trap
Suction trap
Yellow/ Blue/ White Sticky traps
Yellow Sticky Trap
Red-sphere traps – Apple maggot
Bait / pheromone traps
Pheromone Lure trap
These traps are used to control Heliothis and stem borer insects based on lure used.
 Fruit fly traps

Steiner Trap

Lynfield Trap

Multi lure Biosecurity Division, NIPHM

Bottle traps
 Japanese beetle trap

Japanese beetle trap

This pheromone trap attracts both male and female Japanese beetles
Cotton boll weevil trap
Uni-trap – Plodia / Ephestia / Gypsy moth
 Lindgren Funnel Trap
• The Lindgren Funnel Trap
is an important trap for
monitoring bark beetles
and other beetles in
forested areas.
• Used for control of
Siricidae Hymenoptera:
Symphyta: Siricoidea
insects
Pitfall traps
Beat sheets