•Distribution and status: All over India.
•Host range: Aonla, apple, ber, citrus, guava, litchi, loquat, peach, mulberry, pear, sapota, tamarind. •It is polyphagous pest
Symptoms of damage
•Caterpillar bores into young fruits
•Feeds on internal contents (pulp and seeds)
•Fruit rotting and dropping
Identification of pest
•Larvae – dark brown, short and stout, covered with short hairs
•Adult – bluish brown butterfly
•Female – V shaped patch on forewing
Life cycle
Management
•Collect and destroy damaged fruits
•Clean cultivation as weed plants serve as alternate hosts
•Endemic areas – grow less susceptible varieties
•Adopt ETL (5 eggs/plant)
•Cover the fruit with polythene bags when the fruits are up to 5 cm
•Use light trap @ 1/ ha to monitor the activity of adults
•Insecticides: malathion 50 EC 0.1% or dimethoate 30 EC 0.06%, two rounds, one at flower formation and next at fruit set.
•Flowering stage – spray NSKE 5% or neem formulations 2 ml/1
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