Pests of Redgram_Identification, Binomics_Dr.UPR

Pests of Redgram
By
Dr. U. Pirithiraj, P.hD.
Assistant Professor (Entomology)
JSACAT
Affiliated to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera, Noctuidae,
Lepidoptera
1
Symptom of damage
Plants seen defoliated
Boreholes seen on the pods
Nature of damage
Young larva feeds on tender leaves, buds, flowers,
and subsequently it bores into the pods and feeds
on the seeds with its head and part of the body only
thrust inside, the rest remaining outside
Widespread in central and southern Europe,
temperate Asia, Australia and Africa
Dr. U. Pirithiraj, P.hD. (Entomology)

On the forewings, there is speck that forms a V-shaped mark. Hind wings are dull
grey coloured with a black border on the distal end.
Spherical in shape with
sculptures in the form of
longitudinal ribs
The colour varies according to the food intake. Dorsal surface
bears dark broken stripes. Head is reddish-brown. Larva is highly
cannibalistic and readily eats one another.

Management
• ETL: 2 early instar larvae/plant 5-8 eggs/plant
• Helicoverpa resistant Red gram varieties : T 21, Bori, BDN 2, ICPL 332, ICPL 84060,
ICPL 88039, PPE 45-2, ICP 19640, ICP 7035, MA 2, Pant A1, BSMR 1, JG 315 and JG
74 for central zone and ICCV 7
• Pheromone traps for Helicoverpa armigera 12/ha
• Bird perches 50/ha
• Hand picking of grown up larvae and blister beetles
• Inundative release of egg parasite Trichogramma spp. and egg larval
parasites, Chelonus blackburnii
• Ha NPV 1.5 x1012 POB/ha with teepol (1 ml/lit.)

Apply any one of the following insecticides in 700-1000 L of water per ha.
• Azadirachtin 0.03% @ 2.5-5.0 L
• Bacillus thuringiensis serovar kurstaki 5 WP @ 1.0-1.25 kg
• Lufenuron 5.4 EC @ 600 ml
• Benfuracarb 40 EC @ 2.5 L
• Methomyl 40 SP @ 750-1125 g
• Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 220 g
• NPV of H. armigera @ 250 -500 ml
• Spinosad 45 SC @ 125-160 ml
• Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 333-400 ml or 15.8 SC 335 ml

Pulse Blue butterfly, Lampides boeticus, Lycaenidae,
Lepidoptera
Nature of damage
The larva bores into the buds, flowers and green
pods just within couple of hours after hatching and
feeds inside the developing grains
Symptom of damage
Bore holes on buds, flowers, green pods and
matured pods
A ubiquitous species widely distributed throughout the
World. Caterpillars are polyphagous and live on Fabaceae
2

Eggs are laid on the buds, flowers,
green pods and on shoot and
leaves. Greenish white in colour,
disc-shaped form with a slight
depression at the top.
Newly hatched larva is yellowish green in colour
with black head and a dark-brown patch on the
prothorax and cylindrical body with scattered hair.
Full-grown larva is yellowish green to yellowish red
sometimes light purple in colour, ventral surface is
light green. Whole larva is covered with small setae
and marked with irregular black markings.

Pupa are green later darkens
It is medium sized butterfly. The colour of the
wings is violet metallic blue to dusky blue. The
tail of hind wings is black and tipped with
white.
Management
Emamectin benzoate 5%SG 220 g/ha
Indoxacarb 15.8%SC 333 ml/ha
NSKE 5% twice followed by triazophos 0.05%
Neem oil 2% Dr. U. Pirithiraj, P.hD. (Entomology)

Gram blue butterfly, Euchrysops (Catochrysops)
cnejus, Lycaenidae, Lepidoptera
Nature of damage
Larva bores into the buds, flowers and green
pods and feeds inside the developing grains
Symptom of damage
Presence of regular, big, circular borehole on
the flowers and pods. Presence of flat slug
like green coloured larva on affected flowers
or young pods. Black ants hovering around
the plants
It is found from India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798.
3

Laid on flower buds,
green pods, shoots and
leaves
Flat, slug like, green or
yellowish green, red/pink
coloured mid stripe and
few hairs.

Pupates in soil or on the plants
Blue coloured butterfly having five black spots
on the dorsal surface of the hind wing and two
black spots on the ventral surface.

Management for Blue butterfly
• Discourage dense or close planting.
• Dig soil regularly during the period of infestation to kill pupae.
• Pick and destroy the larvae, pupae & adults.
• Release egg parasitoid Trichogramma sp.
• Conserve larval parasitoids ichneumon wasps, Listrodromus crassipes.

Redgram Plume moth, Exelastis atomosa,
Pterophoridae, Lepidoptera
Nature of damage
Young larvae bore into the unopened flower buds for
consuming the developing anthers.
Grown up larvae first scrap the surface of the pods and then
bore into pods. The larvae never enter the pod completely.
Symptom of damage
Pods are scrapped in the early stages, later boreholes seen on
the pods and seeds eaten away.
4
Distribution: India (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab), Sri Lanka ( Fletcher 1931); Ethiopia, Iran,
Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Swaziland, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates.

Minute eggs laid singly on
young pods, flower buds or
tender leaves
Full-grown caterpillar is 1.3 cm in length,
greenish–brown in colour and fringed with
hairs and spines

Pupates on the pod surface or in the entrance hole itself. Pupa
looks like larva.
It is light brown in colour,
deeply fissured wings, the
forewings longitudinally cleft
into two plumes and
hind wings into three
plumes.
Forewings and legs are
extremely elongate.

Management
• Conserve Larval parasitoids, Apanteles paludicolae, Diadegma sp.,
• Chemical control measures are the same as redgram pod borer.
Apanteles sp. Diadegma sp.

Spotted pod borer, Maruca vitrata, Pyraustidae,
Lepidoptera
Symptoms of damage
•Webbing together of flowers, pods and leaves with
silken threads
•Damaged pods - darkened entry holes on the pods.
•First instar larvae prefer flowers and the third and
fourth instar bore in to the pods
•Through the entry holes, water will enter into the
pods causing rotting and browning of seeds.
5
Distribution. Worldwide in the tropics. Asia, Africa, North, South and
Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia & Oceania.

400 scaly eggs singly or in clusters of
2 - 16 in the sepals, petals of the
flower or buds or on pods.
Egg period 2 – 3 days
Young ones - dull white
Grownup larvae - black-headed, with irregularly
shaped brown or black spots on the dorsal, lateral
and ventral surfaces of each body segment.
Larval period - 8 to 14 days

In double-walled pupal cell under the leaf
debris or soil. Pupal period - 5 to 15
days.
Light brown forewings with white markings and white
transparent hind wings with brown irregular
markings at the lateral edge. Life span - 7 to 10 days.

Management
• Grow resistant cultivars like ICPL 98001, ICPL 98003,
ICPL 98008, ICPL 98004
• Conserve larval parasitoids Bracon hebetor

Spiny pod borer, Etiella zincknella, Phycitidae,
Lepidoptera
Nature of damage
Young larva bores into floral parts, making irregular
incision
Symptom of damage
Entrance hole in the green pod disappears.
Larva devours many seeds. The pod always contains a
mass of frass (excreta) and held together by a loosely
spun web
6
It is found in Europe and in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and
Asia. Introduced to North America and Australia.

Laid singly or in small groups on immature
pods on the calyx or near. Freshly laid eggs
are glistening white and adhere securely to
whatever they touch.
Dorsal surface of mature larva is
reddish pink, while the pleural and
ventral surfaces of the body are pale-
green

Light green in colour changes to light brown or amber.
Pupates in the ground at a depth of 2 to 4 cm
Greyish brown moth, distinct pale-white band along the costal margin of the forewings,
hind wings are semi-transparent with a dark marginal line. Orange coloured prothorax

Management
• Conserve natural enemies like Tetrastichus sp., Bracon hebetor.
• Chemical control measures are the same as redgram pod borer
Tetrastichus sp. Bracon hebetor

Field bean pod borer, Adisura atkinsoni, Noctuidae,
Lepidoptera
Nature of damage
Young larva bores into floral
parts and pods and feeds on it
Symptom of damage
Affected pods and flowers have
irregular bore holes
7
Adisura atkinsoni (Moore, 1881) distributed in Sri Lanka; India.

Small, spherical, laid
singly on tender
pods or buds
Robust, green, resemble gram pod borer except for the
presence of dark brown lateral stripe on each side
Pupates in soil
or on flower
spikes
Yellowish has light brownish forewings with V-shaped
specks and pale brown markings on hind wings

Redgram podfly/ ‘Tur’ podfly, Melanagromyza obtusa,
Agromyzidae, Diptera
Nature of damage
• Young maggot attaches itself on the
immature seed inside the pod.
• In the beginning it feeds on the surface
• Later mines into seeds and makes
galleries
• One seed is enough for the development of
a maggot.
8
India, Indonesia, and Malaysia

Symptom of damage
• Shriveled pods and seeds.
• Damaged seeds become unfit for consumption
and also do not germinate.
• However, the attack of the fly remains
unnoticed by the farmers due to the concealed
mode of life of this insect within the pods.

Freshly laid eggs are white, broad and
round at its posterior end which is
embedded in the tissues of the pod and
narrowed anteriorly into a somewhat
elongated egg sheath.
Freshly hatched maggot is white
Full-grown maggot is cylindrical in
shape and is narrower at the head end,
which bears black mouthparts.

Pupation takes place in hard
chitinous puparium, which is
found sticking to the side of pod.
Abdomen is glossy black,
but in some cases it is slight
bronzy, while in other cases
it has a greenish-blue
background.
Management
Conserve natural enemies like Euderus
lividus, Eurytoma sp., Euderus
agromyzae
Euderus spp. Eurytoma sp.

Stem fly, Ophiomyia phaseoli, Agromyzidae, Diptera
9
Nature of damage
Maggot mines sub-epidermally through the
leaves
Tunneling in stem, at seedling stage
Symptom of damage
Drooping of the tender leaves and yellowing
Maggot feeding site swollens and start rotting
Distribution. Worldwide; a pest of tropical and subtropical regions. Asia, Africa, North America (Hawaii),
Oceania. It is recorded from Australia, Fiji, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana
Isalnds, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Solomon Islands.

Eggs are inserted under the
epidermis on the under
surface of the leaves
Light yellow-coloured maggot moves in the leaf
and then bores deeper into the stem
Pupation takes place in the
main stem
Adult is metallic-bluish or greenish-black in
colour with light brown eyes

Blister beetle, Hycleus (Mylabris) phalerata, H.
pustulatus, H. balteata, Meloidae, Coleoptera
10
Hycleus phalerata H. pustulatus H. balteata
Beetles occur solitarily or in swarms and devour all the floral parts.
Adult beetles feed on floral parts including petals, anthers, stigma and ovary
China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan
Blister beetles contains cantharidin, a toxic defensive chemical.
contacted skin can result in a painful blister

Cylindrical and yellowish 60 –
80 eggs laid on the ground
deep in soil.
Egg period lasts 30-40 days.
First stage larva is predatory called, ‘triungulin’ (legs with three
claws) and actively searches for the host.
They feed on grasshopper eggs laid in soil.
They moult five times to become eruciform or caraboid.
Pupates in the soil

Flower webber, Eublemma hemirrhoda, Noctuidae,
Lepidoptera
11
Symptom of damage
Webbing of flowers
Nature of damage
Larva webs the flowers on the inflorescence in
greengram, blackgram and cowpea, and feeds
on them
Adult: Moth has forewings with yellow and
purple patches and white hind wings
Eublemma sp.
Distribution of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other parts of SE Asia

Red gram pod wasp, Tanaostigmodes cajaninae,
Tanaostigmatidae, Hymenoptera
12
A potential pest of pigeon pea in India
Grub Adult
The larva feeds on young seed of
basal locules of pods causing
complete abortion of the seed.
Larva also feeds on the pod wall
after consuming the seed.
Distribution and status: Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Maharastra and Karnataka

Pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis, Bruchidae,
Colepotera
13
Symptoms of damage
Grubs eat up the grain kernel and make a cavity.
Adults come out making exit holes.
Distribution: Africa, USA, China, Burma, Japan, Philippines and India.

Abdomen is exposed as the
elytra do not cover the
abdomen entirely, called as
pygidium. Adult beetles
are short-lived which do not
feed on stored produce
Laid singly, glued to the surface of
the pod (in fields) or on grains
(in stores)
Fleshy, curved,
creamy white in colour

Red gram mite, Aceria cajani, Eriophyidae, Acari
14
Symptoms of damage
Infected plants develop light green or
chlorotic leaves which have mosaic
patterns
Most infected plants do not bear flowers
Pigeonpea sterility mosaic virus (Emaravirus) is transmitted by an eriophyid mite
Partial or complete sterility of the infected plants
Distribution. A. cajani is restricted to the pigeonpea-growing countries of Asia. It is
found in India, Myanmar, Thailand, China and Sri Lanka

Milky white eggs are found on vegetative terminals
The mites are difficult to see with the naked eye.
Silvery-white to slightly reddish-brown, vermiform
and 150-200 µm long and about 50 µm wide
Management
Spray dicofol 18.5 EC 1.0 L
Wettable sulphur 40 WP 3.0 kg
Dimethoate 30 EC 1.0 L
Phosalone 35 EC 1.0 L
in 700 L water per ha
Avoid synthetic pyrethroids as they
cause resurgence after repeated
spray.

Pests of Redgram_Identification, Binomics_Dr.UPR

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