Studies on Biology and Biometry of Epilachna Beetle, Epilachna Vigintioctopunctata Fabricius (coccinellidae: Coleoptera) on Brinjal in West Bengal, India

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Bindu, S. P. Pramanik, Achintya
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	Eggplant is a perennial but grown commercially as an annual crop by small and marginal farmers in India. Eggplant is infested by a dozen of insect pest species, among which the most serious and destructive one is the Epilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab. The spotted leaf beetle or hadda beetle, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab. (syn. Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab.), is the key-pest of the solanaceous and cucurbitaceous plants (Anam et al., 2006; Islam et al., 2011). Population of hadda beetle was found active from 3rd week of August to 4th week of October, the population was low in beginning which continuously increased up to 3rd week of October (Kumar and Singh, 2014). Due to its infestation, considerable economic loss is occurring during every crop season, adversely affecting both quality and quantity of crop output. The grub and adult feeds on the leaves, retarding the plant growth,which leads to 60% loss of fruit production (Mall et al. , 1992). Epilachna vingintioctopunctata lays yellow cigarshaped eggs, mostly on the underside of leaves, in batches of 5-40 each. A single female can lay up to 400 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in 5, 3.3 and 2.9 days at 25, 30 and 35oC, respectively, and full-grown in 17.8, 8.7 and 7.1 days at 25, 30 and 35ÚC, respectively. The pupal stage lasts 13.4, 6.7 and 5.1 days at 25, 30 and 35oC, respectively (Atwal and Dhaliwal, 2005). Deshmukh et al. (2012) observed that the eggs were spindle shaped and 1.3 mm in length and 0.6 mm in breadth. The newly hatched larva / grub were dull blackish-green coloured and was 1.6 mm in length. The whole body was covered dorsally with small bristles. It was 6-7 mm in length, yellow and quiescent (no feeding) stage. Adults were oval in outline and 1-2 cm in length. Males are slightly smaller than females. So, it is easy to manage the pest population with the help of local resource and skills as well as to avoid poisonous chemicals if we understand the nature and behaviour of different stages of its life cycle. It was thought essential to study the biology and physical measurements of this dreaded pest of brinjal.
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