Abstract
India has a great diversity of insect pests attacking potato. More than 100 species of insects consume potato plants. These pests can damage potato plants by feeding on leaves, reducing photosynthetic area and efficiency by attacking stems, weakening plants and inhibiting nutrient transport; and attacking potato tubers destined for consumption or use as seed. Tubers are heavily damaged in the field and in storage, and this damage causes direct losses to farmers. Insect pests that damage tubers include whitegrubs, cutworms, potato tuber moth, termites, red ants, and mole crickets. Sap feeding insects such as aphids, leafhoppers, thrips and whitefiles inflict damage by directly feeding on different parts of a plant and as vectors of plant viruses. Aphids and whiteflies constitute a major threat to the cultivation of seed potato because they transmit viruses such as the PLRV, PVY and Gemini viruses from one plant to another in an efficient manner. Leaf-feeding insects include several species belonging to the orders Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. The important leaf feeding caterpillars are Spodoptera spp., Heliothis armigera, Thysanoplusia orichalcea, and Spilosoma obliqua. Among coleopterans, the most destructive pests are hadda beetles, flea beetles and blister beetles.
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