Abstract
Present paper deals with the morphomatric analysis, incidence and biology of leaf eating caterpillar, Diaphania indica, carried out on cucurbits in arid region. The incidence of leaf eating caterpillar was first reported on fruits of different cucurbits and highest fruit infestation was recorded in muskmelon followed by round melon and watermelon fruits at farm of ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner. Eggs are laid on leaves or young shoots or fruits. The female fly laid the eggs in the cavities made by the ovipositor, just beneath the skin of the fruit. The pooled mean duration of the different stages of D. indica viz., the female fecundity (163.35 number), egg period of 3.59 days, larval period of 9.10 days, pre-pupal period of 2.14 days, pupal period of 9.33 days and adult longevity of 10.08 days, respectively. The length of Ist instar larvae is 4.30 ± 0.135 mm and width is 0.53 ± 0.019 mm. The fifth instar larva is 18.10 ± 0.125 mm length and 3.28 ± 0.043 mm width. Pupa is 13.66 ± 0.088 mm length and 2.28 ± 0.043 mm width. Adult female body length was 11.19 ± 0.211 mm and width 24.54 ± 0.201 with wing expansion. The male body length is 11.00 ± 0.159 mm and width 22.85 ± 0.156 mm with wing expansion. The morphometric variations of different life stages of the D. indica have been recorded. Growers can adopt this study for the timely management of D. indica in arid condition.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Director, ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, India, for providing facilities and advice required for experimentation, and to R. Swaminathan, Professor, Department of Entomology, MPUAT, Udaipur, India for critical discussion and suggestions.
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Haldhar, S.M., Choudhary, B.R., Samadia, D.K. et al. Report of morphomatric and biology of leaf eating caterpillar, Diaphania indica in arid region of India. Vegetos 34, 800–806 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-021-00261-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-021-00261-7