Status Of Insect Pests Research Articles

Utilizing net traps to manage pyralid insect population in pond ecosystems: investigating seasonal abundance and their association with duckweeds

A one-year (May to April) study was done about the seasonal abundance of pyralid insect (Synclita occidentalis: Pyralidae), its association with the duckweed (Spirodela sp.), and the effectiveness of emergent trap as a control measure of pyralid insect in mini ponds ecosystem. The adult insects were non-feeding and selected duckweeds for oviposition and larval development. The larvae of different instars were used duckweed fronds as a trophic source (food). For this, the insect attains pest status in its larval stage. The duckweed production is highly hampered due to the attack of this pyralid insect in pond ecosystem. During experiment, two seasonal peaks were noted, one in summer and another in autumn (larvae and adults). The highest relative seasonal abundance of the adults was recorded in June (0.2) and larvae was in August (0.23). The lowest abundance of the adults and larvae was found 0.001 and 0.01, respectively during winter season. In this experiment, it was found that larvae used duckweed fronds as food in maximum 18.86 ± 0.86 and minimum 13.33 ± 0.70. The larva also built protective cases in duckweed fronds. The highest length of the larval cases was 27.07 ± 1.7 mm and width was 14.8 ± 1.75 mm. The larval feeding habit and case-making adaptability give this insect pest status. From the experiment, it was also found that the length and width of the larval cases greatly varied in different seasons and not positively correlated (P > 0.005). The total seasonal abundance of larval cases was lower in treatment ponds (54) than control (103); and not varied significantly (P > 0.005) between the experimental ponds. In addition, the net trap of adult’s emergent had an important role in suppressing pyralid pest population especially in summer. This situation indicated that it might be a key contribution as a control planning during the peak season of pyralid pest outbreak for the management of duckweed in aquatic ecosystems. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2023, 9(2): 99-108

Population Dynamics of Castor Insect Pests in Relation to the Weather Parameters of Southern Telangana Zone

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an important oilseed crop of dry land area with huge industrial importance. However, biotic stresses are becoming major bottleneck in yield improvement. In view of change in insect pest status in current agricultural scenario and fluctuations in climatic conditions will influence the incidence and severity of insect pests. Keeping in this point of view studies on pest population in relation to the weather parameters was carried out to assess the population fluctuations of insect pests of castor during kharif, 2020 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Palem and relationship between pests and weather parameters. Which revealed that leafhoppers have shown positive significant association with maximum temperature (r=0.48) and negative significant with minimum temperature (r=-0.59), evening relative humidity (r=-0.56). and rainfall (r=-0.60). Thrips has negative significant association with rainfall (r=-0.65). Semilooper has a positive correlation with maximum temperature (r=0.17). Spodoptera litura exhibits positive significant relationship with maximum temperature (r=0.24), Percent capsule damage by capsule borer had a negative significant relation with maximum temperature (r=-0.49) and minimum temperature (r=-0.55).

Status of the major insect pests of squash plants at fruiting stage

Squash is a common cucurbitaceous vegetable in tropical and sub-tropical regions that is infested by a wide variety of insect pests. Therefore, the experiment was conducted to assess the status of insect pests in three different squash varieties viz., Pahu, Ahung, and SQ10 during the reproductive stage. It was observed that the total number of insect pests in the Pahu variety was significantly higher than Ahung, and SQ10. During the fruiting stage, 10 insects have been identified as harmful, while 6 were recorded as beneficial. The harmful insects were the blue pumpkin beetle, red pumpkin beetle, green long-legged fly, fruit flies, ants, blowfly, butterfly, grasshopper, house fly, and mosquito. The blue pumpkin beetle was significantly higher than all other insect species in all the varieties followed by the green long-lagged fly, the red pumpkin beetle, and fruit flies. Meanwhile, the number of butterflies and blowflies were the lowest of all the varieties. The ladybird beetle, hoverfly, tachinid fly, bumble bee, and honeybee were the most common beneficial insects found in squash fruits. However, a significant difference was observed among the beneficial insects, and the number of ladybird beetles was significantly higher than that of other insects, regardless of the variety. Therefore, the variety Pahu is considered the most susceptible to insect pests compared to Ahung and SQ10.

Current status and future prospects in biotic stress management in rice

Insect pests and diseases are the major biotic constraints in rice production. According to the ecosystem, the incidence of insect pests and diseases vary. The degree of loss due to different biotic stresses differ widely depending upon the predominant factors of abundance of these pests in a particular year, season or locality. Though around 800 insect species damaging rice in one way or another, the majority of them do very little damage. In India, about a dozen of insect species are of major pest status. Farmers bear an estimated average of 37% losses in rice crop due to insect pests and diseases every year. This review focuses on status of insect pests and diseases, extent of losses, different tools used in pest monitoring and management in rice. Among the important pest management tools used in rice pest and diseases management are forecasting model for real-time pest-advisory services, light trap, hyper-spectral remote sensing, computer-based decision support system, disruptive technologies (mobile apps).

IPM for tropical crops: lentil

Abstract Lentil is an old-world legume and grown in more than 70 countries. It is a major source of protein in plant-based diets and is often used to fix nitrogen in the soil as a rotational crop, especially with cereal crops. Canada, USA, and Australia are the major exporters of lentil. Around the globe, this crop faces various biotic and abiotic stresses. More than 35 insect pests and the same number of diseases are reported to infest lentil in different parts of the world. While the status of insect pests and diseases varies in different geographical regions, some of them are aphids, armyworm, cutworm, pod borer, Stemphylium blight, fusarium wilt, Alternaria blight, and rust. Cultural management strategies for abiotic and biotic stresses include crop rotation, the timing of seeding, appropriate seed rates, and weed management. Biological control agents are also known for several insect pests. Environmental-friendly options such as biopesticides and microbials (entomopathogenic bacteria, fungi and nematodes, neem products, and Trichoderma sp.) can be used as seed treatment and foliar application. Various tolerant and resistant lentil varieties are available around the globe. In the present article, we provide an IPM package for the management of major biotic stresses for lentil crop.

Emergence of new insect pests on vegetables during the last decade: A case study

With the changes in cropping system, climate and introduction of highly input-intensive high-yielding varieties/hybrids are the root cause for a shift in insect pest status in time and space, resulting in enhanced damage caused by them in the world. Many of them also act as vectors for several viral and mycoplasma diseases, aggravating the problem further. In India, yield loss due to major insect pests is varying from 30–40%. In addition to the regular pests, recently, many exotic and invasive insect pests have invaded in many parts of the countries. South American pin worm (Tuta absoluta Meyrick), solenopsis mealy bug (Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley) are few such insects. Similarly, mirid bugs (Nesidiocoris cruentatus (Ballard) and Metacanthus pulchellus Dallas), melon weevil [Acythopius curvovistris citrulli (Marshall)], white plume moth [Sphenarches caffer (Zeller)], cucumber moth (Diaphania indica) and moringa fruit borer (Noorda blitealis Walker), tortoise beetle (Cassida circumdata Herbst) are the insects which have come up in bigger way in current decade either by expanding their host horizon or increase their severity. Therefore, these emerging insect pests in vegetable ecosystem in current decade, their suitable control measures and some issues/challenges in their ecofriendly management are discussed.

The Status of Insect Pests Prevailing in Stored Wheat Grain under Traditional Storages of Cheha District of Gurage Zone of South Central Ethiopia

Aim: To assess the status of the insect pests of stored wheat grains in Cheha destrict of Gurage Zone of Southern Ethiopia.
 Study Design: Peasant associations were selected purposefully based on intensity of wheat production, such that those peasant association growing wheat predominantly were selected for the survey, while villages, representative farmers and their storage systems were selected randomly using a nested design.
 Place and Duration of Study: Survey was conducted between 1, July to 30, December 2019 with the interval of one month in major wheat growing peasant associations of Cheha district of south central Ethiopia.
 Methodology: The assessment on abundance was made from of half kilogram of wheat grain sample taken from 135 randomly selected farmer’s storages of three peasant associations using taxonomic keys of books related to stored product insects.
 Results: Eight major species of insect pests consisting of four primary pests and four secondary pests belonging to five families with in two insect orders were documented. Of these pests recorded, Sitophilus oryzae, Sitophilus zeamais, Sitotroga cereallella, Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium confusum, respectively were the most prevalent and frequently occurring as they appeared between 12.74 and 33.78 individuals per 100 g of grain and as they occurred in the range between 77.78 and 92.26% per 100 g of sample wheat grain collected from the survey sites, respectively. These were followed by Cryptolestes ferrugineus, Cryptolestes pusillus and Rhyzopertha dominica which occurred between 7.26 and 10.74 individuals per 100 g of grain and in ranges between 51.85 and 66.67% per 100 g of sample wheat grain collected.
 Conclusion: The traditional methods and practices used by farmers were inefficient for sufficient wheat grains protection against insect pests in storages; this implies for the urgent need for designing management strategies for more effective and sustainable methods of control.

Pest Injury Guilds, Lepidoptera, and Placing Fruit-Piercing Moths in Context: A Review

AbstractThe pest status of insects in agricultural settings is human-defined based on behaviors that may negatively impact the yield of susceptible crops. As such, both the insect behavior and the affected crop play a part in determining pest status. One helpful means of understanding pest status involves using pest injury guilds, which distinguish different pest groups based on similar kinds of injury to comparable plant tissues. Pest injury guilds defined in the literature are reviewed and then applied to agriculturally significant Lepidoptera. More specialized Lepidoptera behaviors which are economically relevant, such as leaf-rolling or stem-boring, are examined within their respective injury guilds. In this review, fruit-piercing moths are discussed within the context of pest Lepidoptera behaviors and are highlighted due to their unique means of causing economic damage. Unlike other Lepidoptera in agricultural settings, fruit-piercing moths are harmful as adults rather than larvae, and directly injure fruits using a specially adapted proboscis. The ecology and systematics of fruit-piercing moths, as well as current control options, are also discussed.

Effectiveness of grain storage facilities and protectants in controlling stored-maize insect pests in a climate-risk prone area of Shire Valley, Southern Malawi

Shire Valley is one of Malawi's most vulnerable areas to climate change (CC). In addition to other impacts, CC is expected to affect storage insect pest status, and the efficacy of grain storage facilities and protectants. On-farm grain storage trials were therefore conducted in Shire Valley to assess the performance of storage facilities and grain protectants against storage insect pests. Eight smallholder farmers hosted the trials in Thyolo and Chikwawa districts. Seven grain storage treatments were evaluated for 32 weeks during two storage seasons: Neem leaf powder (NM), Actellic Super dust (ASD), ZeroFly® bag (ZFB), Purdue Improved Crop Storage bag (PICS), Super Grain Bag (SGB), hermetic metal silo (MS) and untreated grain in a polypropylene bag (PP). Insect pest populations and grain damage increased with storage duration and differed significantly between treatments (p < 0.05). Grain stored in hermetic bags (PICS, SGB) sustained significantly lower (p < 0.05) insect damage and weight loss compared to other treatments across sites and seasons. The hermetic bags also outperformed the other treatments in suppressing insect numbers. However, germination rates of undamaged grains stored in the hermetic storage facilities (MS, PICS, SGB) for 40 weeks were extremely low (<15%) compared to that of undamaged grains from NM treatment (53–58%) and the other treatments (>75%) at both sites. The hermetic MS, ZFB bags, ASD and NM treatments did not effectively protect grain from insect damage. High in-store mean temperature (35.6 °C) and high initial grain moisture content (13.7%) may have negatively affected efficacy of some treatments and seed germination. Tribolium castaneum survival in the MS requires further investigation. The hermetic storage bags (PICS, SGB) can be recommended for long-term maize grain storage (≥32 weeks) by smallholder farmers in Shire Valley and other similar climate change-prone areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Crowdsourcing Field Observations from Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania Using Interactive Voice Response

The term crowdsourcing was first used in 2006 but the approach has been employed in various fields over a much longer period of time. The central idea is to collect information from a large number of people in order to achieve a common goal such as to increase knowledge, solve a problem or enhance the efficiency of a process. In the realm of research, crowdsourcing is closely connected with citizen science in which members of the public are engaged in a scientific project. In C17th England, the naturalist John Ray arranged for a large number of volunteers to collect specimens for him and there are datasets on the phenology of plants, birds and insects in England and in some other countries which provide a continuous record for hundreds of years. A current example of how non-specialists are helping to gather large quantities of biological data is the Breeding Bird Survey run by the British Trust for Ornithology which engages thousands of volunteers to submit records of over 200 bird species each year. Although crowdsourcing has been widely used in environmental monitoring there are few examples of its use in agriculture. This is surprising because there is a tradition of participatory approaches to agricultural research which have been developed in recent decades. The potential for harnessing large numbers of individual farmers to generate information on the performance of crop varieties in different locations was recently demonstrated through a triadic comparison of technologies. This was taken a stage further in a subsequent study in which a total of 12,409 farmers collected data on experimental plots of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in Nicaragua, durum wheat (Triticum durum) in Ethiopia, and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) in India. The results showed that expected effects of seasonal climatic variables on the performance of the crop varieties occurred and that these were generalizable across growing seasons. The authors concluded that their approach allows for more targeted recommendations for the deployment of crop varieties and that these may differ substantially from recommendations derived from current evaluation procedures in which testing is done at a limited number of sites. Crowdsourcing has tremendous potential for use in insect pest management. Up to date information on the distribution and abundance of insect pests of crops is needed for the development of appropriate management strategies. Field surveys can be used to identify locations where pest levels are high and sequential monitoring may help to establish seasonal patterns of occurrence. Surveys are also useful in monitoring the likely sources of migrant pests and recording their dispersal from these areas. When used in combination with other information such as climatic data, field surveys are an essential element of insect pest forecasting systems. In developing countries, field surveys are generally conducted by agricultural research and extension staff. Their main limitation is that they are labour-intensive and costly to carry out. Since resources of manpower and funds are limited, surveys are carried out infrequently and in restricted locations which may not be representative of the situation over larger areas. As a result national agricultural research and extension systems are constrained by having limited access to accurate information on the status of insect pests in different locations. This makes it difficult for them to respond to new threats such as the recent appearance and spread of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in Africa where monitoring and early warning systems are crucial for effective control.

Spatial and temporal incidence of insect pests in farmers’ cabbage fields in Senegal

Abstract In Senegal, damage caused by insect pests is a major obstacle to seasonal stability and an increase in cabbage production. Little is known about the spatial and temporal distribution of cabbage pests, which makes the design of management recommendations to small-scale farmers challenging. The objectives of this study were to: (i) evaluate the status of insect pests observed in cabbage farmers’ fields; (ii) give information on the spatial and temporal distribution of key pests and (iii) assess the effect of temperature, insecticide applications, and host crop abundance on their incidence. A total of 116 cabbage fields were monitored for insect pests and related damage over four crop cycles, from October 2012 to May 2014, in the main vegetable producing area of Senegal (Niayes). The diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.) was by far the most important pest present in all the fields and with high levels of incidence (37.1% infested plants), particularly in the latter part of the dry season in the South of Niayes (50% infested plants). The cabbage webworm Hellula undalis (F.) was mainly observed in the early dry season in the south of Niayes, with an incidence of up to 12.5% infested plants. More surprising was the detection of the tomato fruit worm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), with damage of up to 9.4% of cabbage heads. The incidence of sucking pests such as whiteflies Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), or aphids (including Lipaphis pseudobrassicae (Davis, 1914), Myzus persicae (Sulzer) or Brevicoryne brassicae (L.)) was generally low. The incidence of P. xylostella increased significantly with the number of insecticide applications, indicating that control deployed by growers was ineffective. The incidence of H. undalis did not depend on the number of insecticide applications, but significantly increased with host crop abundance and decreased with temperature. This study is a first step towards developing alternative pest management strategies in the framework of sustainable vegetable production systems.

Status of Insect Pests and Natural Enemies of Direct Seeded and Transplanted Rice

Studies were conducted on the status of insect-pests and natural enemies of direct seeded rice (DSR) in comparison with puddled transplanted rice (PTR) during rabi and kharif in 2013-14. The rice leaf folder and yellow stem required both the seasons. Maximum leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee) (13.03%) damage and yellow stem borer damage (13.49%) of white ears was recorded during last week of October and second week of November in DSR under unprotected situation respectively. While sucking pests population mainly green leafhopper incidence was comparatively high in PTR (3.29 and 4.92/hill) also plant hoppers incidence (BPH and WBPH) (28.90 and 18.44 adults/hill) under unprotected situation during two seasons respectively. Population of predators at both the season remained high throughout the study period in PTR than the DSR except

The Role of Symbiotic Microbes in Insect Invasions

The number of insect species transported to non-native regions is increasing, and, once established, these invasive insects have serious impacts on the environment and regional economies. Recent research highlights several cases of insect invasions facilitated by symbiotic microbes. Symbioses impact biological invasions, but few reviews have addressed the role of symbiotic microbes in insect invasions. Focusing on the insect–microbial symbiosis, we show the importance of microbial symbionts in determining the pest status of insects at insect–microbial levels, insect–plant–microbial levels, and other multispecific levels. Drawing on examples from different ecosystems, we review the key mechanisms and principles whereby facultative/mutualistic microbes affect insect invasions and coevolve with the invasive insects. We propose a conceptual framework for assessing the role of symbiotic microbes in insect invasions that promises improved risk analyses, spread and impact modeling, and management of invasive insects.

Impact of global warming on the insect pest status on plants

Impact of global warming on the insect pest status on plants

Impact of global warming on the insect pest status on plants

Green house gases capture the heat radiation from the sun and maintain an average global temperature of 15°C in the lower most atmospheric layer, the troposphere, which supports the life of our planet. Increase in the concentrations of green house gases in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic, animal and microbial activities, creates an enhanced global green house effect in the recent time, causing Global Warming. This phenomenon affects various climatic and natural processes that also include adverse changes in the insect pest status on the agricultural, horticultural and forest plants. Under the elevated ambient temperature and concentrations of green house gases like CO 2 , the pest species exhibit increased herbivory, longevity, voltinism, reproductive cycles, fecundity, population size, and pesticide resistance. The plant's natural phytochemical defense mechanism against insect attack also decreases under raised green house effect. This induces over damage to plants by enhancing the longevity and fecundity and population of the pest species. Plants also shift their other chemical defense mechanisms from nitrogen-based chemicals to carbon-based chemicals under high CO 2 environment. The high level of carbohydrate in relation to nitrogen in plants produced under elevated ambient CO2 amount also accounts for over herbivory by the insects to satisfy their nitrogen requirement. Hence, increased pest status of insects, besides necessitating costlier control measures, definitely inflicts an irreversible damage to the plant lives of our planet.

Insects attack citrus trees in Al- Qalyubiyah Governorate, Eygypt

This study was aimed to determine the recent status of insect pests infest the citrus trees (Baladi and Navel Orange) at Qalyubiyah governorate, Egypt. Study was conducted during visiting two orchards in Tukh area twice a month for nineteen continuous months. Seasonal abundance of the dominant species of insects pests infesting citrus trees and their natural enemies were also investigated. Thirteen insects pests species were found. They werebelonging to families: Aphididae, Coccidae, Margarodidae, Diaspididae, Anthomyi, Aleyrodidae, Thripidae and Drosophilidae. Aphids were the most common pest attacking citrus trees. Its peak of abundance was between March and first week of April followed by significant numbers of scale insects and leaf miner, which were found in most months of the year. The natural enemies of citrus pests species were belonging to these taxonomic groups: Neuroptera, Hemiptera and Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Acari.

Predicting insect pest status under climate change scenarios: combining experimental data and population dynamics modelling

AbstractClimate change could profoundly affect the status of agricultural insect pests. Several approaches have been used to predict how the temperature and precipitation changes could modify the abundances, distributions or status of insect pests. In this article it is demonstrated how the use of simple models, such as Ricker’s classic equation, including a mechanistic representation of the influence of exogenous forces may improve our predictive capacity of the dynamic behaviour of insect populations. Using data from classical experiments in population ecology, we evaluate how temperature and humidity influence the density of two stored grain insect pest, Tribolium confusum and Callosobruchus chinensis, and then, using the A2 and B2 scenarios proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the previous modelling, we develop predictions over the future pest status of T. confusum along South America austral region, and specifically for eight cities in the continental Chilean territory. Tribolium confusum and C. chinensis show qualitatively different responses to the exogenous forcing of temperature and humidity, respectively. Our simulations predict a change in the equilibrium density of T. confusum from 10 to 14% under the moderate B2 scenario and 12 to 22% under the extreme A2 scenario to the period, 2071–2100. Both results imply a severe change in the pest status of this species in the southern region. This study illustrates how the use of theoretically based models may improve our predictive capacity. This approach provides an opportunity to examine the link between invasive species and climate change and how new suitable habitat may become available for species whose niche space is limited in some degree by climatic conditions. The use of different scenarios allows us to examine the sensitivity of the predictions, and to improve the communication with the general public and decision‐makers; a key aspect in integrated pest management.

Status of Sal (Shorea robusta) seed insect pests in six Sal dominating regions of central India, Madhya Pradesh

The paper reports field status of insect pests damaging Sal seeds in six Sal dominating regions of Madhya Pradesh, recorded during three consecutive seed setting seasons from 2000. Observations with field collected seed samples revealed that three insect pests were infesting Sal seeds, viz., Dichocrocis leptalis Hamp., Pammne theristis Mey. And Sitophilus rugicollis Casey. Their level of incidence based on percentage seeds damaged and population of individual insect species was recorded in all the selected forest areas. The information given on comparative status of pest incidence may be useful for traders and industries involved in extracting oils from the seeds for decision-making.

Status of Common Oil Palm Insect Pests in Relation to Technology Adoption

A survey was conducted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in 2005 on the status of insect pest infestation, distribution and the industry's perception and adoptions of insect pest control technologies. Sabah and Perak had recorded the most occurrence of bagworms (30%), while other states individually had less than 15 per cent bagworm occurrence. Metisa plana and Pteroma pendula were mainly concentrated in Perak, Sabah and Johor, while Mahasena corbetti was more prevalent in Sabah and Perak. A similar trend was also observed in the distribution of nettle caterpillars, however, Melaka and Terengganu have no records of nettle caterpillar infestation during the period 2000-2005. In adopting the beneficial plants for bagworm and nettle caterpillar control, at least three oil palm agencies have fully adopted (100%) the technology while four agencies have still not implemented the technology in 2005. The planting of beneficial plants was widely practiced in Sabah, followed by Perak, Selangor, Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor. In Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka it seems to be planted as a preventive measure. There was a one-fold reduction in bagworm infestation in estates which planted the beneficial plants compared to those which did not. This clearly suggests the contribution and role of beneficial plants in enhancing population of natural enemies for controlling the bagworms in plantations. The rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros was mainly concentrated in Johor, Sabah, Perak and Pahang. Compared to the previous years, there was almost a one-third reduction in the infestation in 2005, likely due to the adoption of technologies on better replanting techniques or the use of chemicals/pheromone trapping for control of the pest. A majority felt that the use of chemical pesticides may have reduced the infestation of the pest, while others thought that single-layer trunk chips laid during the zero-burning method has possibly reduced breeding and infestation. Some estates that responded also felt that biocontrol agents such as Bacillus thuringiensis, Metarhizium and Oryctes virus will gain more importance in the coming years. Keywords: Survey, insect pests, oil palm, bagworms, nettle caterpillars, rhinoceros beetle, technologies.

Current Status of Insect Pests Attacking Green Bunching Onion in Central and Southern Vietnam

Current Status of Insect Pests Attacking Green Bunching Onion in Central and Southern Vietnam