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Fruit sucking moth: Punctured fruit


Pest: Eudocima spp.


Symptoms

A circular pinhole like spot appears at the feeding site can be seen. Later on, the area around the damaged portion turns yellowish-brown. The punctured fruitsare easily infected with bacteria and fungi. As a result, the fruit rot and falls prematurely.


Control

  • Destroy host plants of larvae viz., Tinospora cordifolia, T. sinensis etc., present in and around the field.

  • Create smoke in the fields by burning the weeds and crop waste during evening hours in the orchard at different spots. Smoke masks the odor of the mature fruit, so that, the moths fail to detect fruits and do not enter the orchard.

  • Egg parasitoids, Telenomus sp., Ooencyrtus sp. and Trichogramma sp. are among the most successful biological control agents of FSM.

  • Keep poison baits (95% molasses/jaggery + 5% malathion), in big flat earthen pots and install compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) bulb over them. Moths are attracted to light and bait which kills them through stomach action.

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