The pseudostem weevil (Odoiporus longicollis Olivier) is a major pest of banana, causing significant yield losses. A field experiment was conducted over two consecutive seasons (2021 and 2022) using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with twelve treatments, including various insecticidal applications, a standard check and an untreated control, each replicated three times. The present study demonstrated that the stem injection with dinotefuran 20% SG at 5 ml/plant (30 g in 500 ml water) and soil application of chlorantraniliprole 0.4% GR at 10 g/plant were the most effective treatments. These recorded the lowest mean damage grade indices (1.23 and 1.48, respectively), highest benefit-cost (B:C) ratios (4.99 and 4.71), maximum yields (42.87 and 40.13 t/ha) and highest net returns (₹514,198 and ₹474,320, respectively). Both treatments significantly reduced the total number of active weevil life stages and produced the maximum bunch weights (18.64 and 17.61 kg) and highest number of hands per bunch (15.40 and 15.20). Clothianidin 50% WDG applied basally at 0.25 g/3L/plant and fipronil 0.6% GR applied to soil at 10 g/plant were the next most effective treatments recording mean damage grade indices of 1.52 and 1.57, B:C ratios of 4.39 and 4.53, yields of 38.79 and 38.73 t/ha and net returns of ₹449,396 and ₹452,801, respectively. These treatments also showed considerable reductions in active weevil stages and improvements in bunch weight (16.87 and 16.77 kg) and number of hands per bunch (14.40 and 14.43). In contrast, the untreated control exhibited the highest damage grade index (4.16), the lowest B:C ratio (2.57), the lowest yield (19.97 t/ha), lowest bunch weight (8.80 kg), and the least number of hands per bunch (11.13). These findings indicate that dinotefuran and chlorantraniliprole are highly effective for the management of O. longicollis in banana, offering significant agronomic and economic benefits followed by Fipronil and clothianidin.

Odoiporus longicollis (Marshall, 1930), a major banana pest in the family Curculionidae, primarily infests banana pseudostems. The mitogenomic analysis of O. longicollis and its phylogenetic relationships enhances the available mitogenomic data of Curculionidae and provides valuable resources for the molecular identification, population monitoring, and management of this species. In this study, the complete mitogenome of O. longicollis (16,294 bp) was sequenced for the first time. The circular genome comprises 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNAs, and two rRNAs, with GC contents of 24.81%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16 Curculionidae mitogenomes offers novel insights into the evolutionary relationships of O. longicollis.

Microbiome of different gut compartments of banana pseudostem weevil Odoiporus longicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) offers an understanding of site-specific diversity and metabolism: Whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing approach

Banana (Musa spp.) is a major fruit crop extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. This study investigated pest occurrence, pesticide usage patterns, and control strategies in banana cultivation systems, focusing particularly on Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier), an economically significant pest species, across selected districts in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Data were collected from 80 commercial banana farmers across eight major banana-growing districts through a structured questionnaire. The study identified O. longicollis as the most prevalent chewing pest (87.5%), followed by Cosmopolites sordidus (82.5%) and Spodoptera litura (21.25%). Dominant sucking pests included Aleurodicus rugioperculatus (23.75%), Aleurodicus dispersus (18.75%), and Pentalonia nigronervosa (15%). Additionally, the study documented Rhynchophorus ferrugineus infesting banana plantations, marking a potential host expansion of this pest. Among insecticides from different groups chlorpyrifos (27.5%) was the most commonly used insecticide. The use of restricted insecticides, including monocrotophos and carbofuran, was also documented. Spraying on pseudostem and leaf axils (63.75%) was the primary application method, followed by sucker treatment (50%). Biopesticides such as neem oil, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Beauveria bassiana, and entomopathogenic nematodes were adopted minimally. About 55% of farmers followed a one-month spray interval from 4 months after planting (MAP) to 8 MAP, with 26.25% reporting control failures. Only 12.5% of the respondents practiced insecticide rotation, indicating gaps in resistance management awareness.

Insect pests are an issue for farmers growing bananas, and these pests generate significant global economic losses. The banana pseudostem weevil causing Odoiporus longicollis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), (BPW) is a pest causing severe losses. Because of its internal feeding habit, BPW is extremely difficult to manage, even in the early stages of infestation. Due to various hazardous dangers, many of the insecticides that were previously advised for the treatment of the pest were either outlawed, phased out or had restricted use. Hence, effective pesticides and methods of application have to be standardized. This review on Odoiporus longicollis focuses on important aspects of its biology and management. It specifically address the aspects of its importance damage and management involving host plant resistance, semiochemicals, cultural methods, botanicals, biological and chemical control.

The banana pseudostem weevil (BPW), Odoiporus longicollis (Oliver), is one of the most destructive pests of bananas that is seriously affecting the yield and quality of bananas. We isolated pathogens from banana pseudostem weevils in Xishuangbanna and Dongchuan, Yunnan, China, and explored their biological characteristics. The pathogenicity of the strains was verified through laboratory and greenhouse inoculation experiments. The results showed that four strains of fungi were identified and confirmed as Beauveria caledonica (Bc) via ITS-rDNA sequencing. Optimal in vitro culture conditions were found to be a photoperiod of 24 h light, 25 °C temperature, and 18 days on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium with insect meal. Under these conditions, the Cs-1 strain achieved a colony diameter of 65.17 ± 0.74 mm and spore production of 1.24 × 108 cfu/cm2. The Cs-1 strain had the shortest lethal time (LT50) of 9.36 days at an inoculum of 1.00 × 109 cfu/mL, with a lethality of 86.67% after 20 days. The Cs-3 strain showed 77.78% lethality at 1.00 × 108 cfu/mL after 20 days. Despite variations in virulence, lethality did not correlate with major cuticle-degrading enzymes. The Cs-3 strain demonstrated effective biocontrol in greenhouse tests. Banana plants suffered significant damage without Bc-treated BPW, while the treated plantlets thrived. The mortality rate reached 82.78% after 35 days. This study marks the first identification of these entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) in Yunnan, China, highlighting B. caledonica's potential for biocontrol application.

An investigation on environment friendly management against pseudostem weevil, [Odoiporus longicollis (Oliver)] in banana was carried out during year 2021-22 at farmers’ field in Siyod village of Surat district with ratoon crop and tissue culture plants. Though standard check and farmer practice were found effective, but among biopesticides and botanicals, stem injection with Azadirachtin 10000 ppm @ 4.0 ml l-1 was superior and minimized the plant damage, holes on pseudostem and pest population of pseudostem weevil as well as exhibited the higher fruit yield and incremental cost benefit ratio. After that, swabbing of Azadiractin 10000 ppm @ 2.5 ml l-1 and spraying of Beauveria bassiana (2 x 108 CFU g-1) @ 4.0 g l-1 + pseudostem trapping also proved their effectiveness than other treatments. These three treatments also exhibited higher plant height, pseudostem girth, hands per bunch and fingers per bunch than other biopesticides and botanicals. The ratoon crop plantation was found more susceptible than tissue culture plantation.

The production and productivity of banana is governed by many biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic factors, incidence of insect-pests is considered as one of the major impedimentin successful cultivation of banana. With respect to the Indian condition around eight pests commonly infest the banana crop. However, the banana pseudostem weevil Odoiporus longicollis is cosmopolite insect pest that threatens the banana cultivation. The most common management practices followed for managing this pest includes cultural practices. Diverse cultural practices have been communicated to and/or applied by resource-poor households over the past two decades to improve the overall farm health and crop tolerance to biotic/abiotic factors. Therefore, cultural practices are the only measures available to small-scale farmers for the control of banana pseudostem weevil. Hence the survey was conducted during 2020-21 to study the influence of cultural practices on O. longicollis infestation in major banana growing districts of north Karnataka. From the survey results on the cultural practices reveals that the pest severity was more severe on ratoon crop fields and the frequency recorded was 37.82%. However, the frequency recorded was 1.68% in first crop, wherein no pest infestation was recorded in main crop. Whereas, good number of farmers could not make a difference in infestation of pest between main and ratoon crop (60.50%) and in such fields infestation level was 4.11%. The banana farmers who were interacted mainly used suckers (36.13%) and tissue culture plants (36.13%) for planting followed by rhizome (24.37%), whereas few farmers used suckers and rhizomes (3.36%) for planting in a single piece of land. Accordingly, the per cent infestation of BPW was less when both tissue cultured plants (4.84%) and suckers (5.53%) used for planting. Whereas, infestation was more severe when both suckers and rhizomes were used (27.50%) on same piece of land and which was followed by rhizomes alone (16.00%).

ABSTRACT Odoiporus longicollis [Olivier], commonly known as banana pseudostem weevil or BPW has been a predominant pest of bananas, resulting in devastating losses in banana cultivation across India. The current research explores the use and effectiveness of the microbial biopesticide – Lysinibacillus sphaericus against banana pseudostem weevils in field and laboratory conditions. The LC50 value of L.sphaericus was found to be 9.92% of 1 OD (optical density at 600 nm) culture after 24 h of treatment against grubs at in-vitro conditions. L.sphaericus cultures were formulated as liquid, solid, and capsule formulations, and analysed parameters such as viability, shelf life, and pest control efficiency against banana pseudostem weevils. The capsule-based formulation (8 ± 2 × 102a CFU/ml) was most effective against the grubs with a storage period of 120 days to six months under room temperature in air-free containers. The efficacy of a capsule-based formulation at in vivo conditions in the pseudostem revealed that the gelatine coat of the capsule disintegrated within 24hrs after application, leading to the easy release of active ingredients to the pseudostem. The field evaluation observed that in L.sphaericus-based capsule formulations treated plants, there was more than an 80% reduction in the infestation of grubs over control treatments. The current paper describes the application of L.sphaericus against the weevil, its unique formulation as a capsule increasing bacterial shelf life, and ease of application. The development of an easily applicable and effective capsule with a better shelf life of 6 months would increase the marketing possibilities of this biopesticide formulation against Odoiporus longicollis.

A study investigating the impact of season and crop stage on the incidence of the banana pseudostem weevil in the Mysuru region of Karnataka revealed that the pest's presence persisted throughout the year. However, two distinct peak periods of infestation were observed: one during August-September and another during March-April. The infestation levels varied from 11.50% to 41.75% regardless of the crop stage. In ratoon crops, the percentage of infestation ranged from 12.00% to 54.50%, whereas in fresh crops, it varied from 11.00% to 32.00%. Notably, the percentage of infestation in ratoon crops was observed to be higher than that in fresh crops. This trend can be attributed to the fact that the banana pseudostem weevil tends to infest crops that are more than five months old. In several fresh crop fields, the infestation levels were negligible or non-existent. The correlation study between various weather parameters and the percentage of infestation revealed consistent findings. Specifically, maximum temperature exhibited a negative correlation with the infestation percentage across all crop stages, while other weather parameters such as minimum temperature, minimum and maximum relative humidity, and rainfall showed a positive correlation with the infestation rate.

Efficacy of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Gliricidia sepium on Odoiporus longicollis

A study was focused on biocidal and repellent efficiencies of leaf extracts of Chromolaena odorata (L) (Asteraceae), Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) (Fabaceae), Coleus aromaticus Benth, Hyptis suaveolens (L.)Poit. (Lamiaceae) and Artemisia vulgaris L. (Asteraceae), against Odoiporus longicollis, banana pseudostem weevil. Ethanol leaf extracts of the above plants were primarily analysed for the mortality and repellency activity, the results showed that among the extracts G. sepium was most effective. Further G. sepium in various solvents like petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water were analysed for the biocidal and repellency assays, and found that, the ethyl acetate solvent of G. sepium elicited maximum effectiveness. The ethyl acetate extract of G. sepium is found as a promising biopesticide.

The pseudostem borer, Odoiporus longicollis is a serious pest causing heavy losses to the banana growers. To manage the pest farmers rely on chemical insecticides even after bunch formation. Since the whole banana plant is edible in one way or the other for consumption, the usage of persistent insecticides will lead to residues. Therefore, studies were undertaken to assess the level of infestation by pseudostem borer in banana and to evaluate the botanical, neem formulation against banana pseudostem borer. Among the ten banana varieties screened for the infestation of pseudostem borer, the severity was maximum in Nendran (31.69%) followed by Red banana (19.07%). The pseudostem borer was recorded as a major pest in the banana varieties viz., Nendran, Red banana, Matti, and Palayamkottan (>10%) and a minor pest in the banana varieties viz., Robusta, Rasakathali, and Ney poovan (1-5%). The occurrence of O. longicollis was not observed in Karpooravalli, Monthan, and Peyan. According to the level of infestation, the banana varieties viz., Nendran and Red banana were found to be highly susceptible to O. longicollis and among them, nendran is best for trapping banana pseudostem borer and can be used as pseudostem traps. Application of azadirachtin 10000 ppm at 4 ml/l thrice at 5th, 6th, and 7th months after planting showed 55.57 and 59.35 per cent reduction of pseudostem borer over untreated check in nendran and red banana, respectively, and can be used for safe management of banana pseudostem borer.

Insects have evolved with effective strategies to utilize cellulose as an energy source by possessing cellulolytic enzymes which can be used as an optimal resource in the bioenergy sector. The study was aimed at evaluating the cellulolytic enzyme in the larval gut of the banana pseudostem weevil, Odoiporus longicollis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Primarily, cellulase activity was localized along the gut, in which the midgut showed the highest activity (2858 U/mg). The thermo-tolerance of cellulase activity was found to be up to 80°C (highest at 60°C), and the enzyme was stable at a pH between 5 and 6. Various concentrations of divalent cations (CaCl2 , MgCl2 , and CuCl2 ) have differential enhancing and inhibitory effects on cellulase activity. The cellulase (OlCel) was purified using anion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of the cellulase was determined to be 47 kDa. The physicochemical parameters of the purified enzyme were similar to that of enzyme activity of whole gut extract. Mass spectrometry results identified sequence similarities of purified cellulase to the glycosyl hydrolase family 5 (GHF5) family. The gut microbial cellulase activity as exogenous source showed no competence compared with the endogenous activity.

Differential Display Reverse Transcription and Variance on Protein Profile Between Susceptible and Resistant Musa Cultivars in Relation to Infestation by Odoiporus longicollis

Banana pseudostem borer (BPB) Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) is a serious pest of Musa cultivars. Experimental maintenance of larvae in the live pseudostem of cultivar Thodan, a resistant AAB Musa cultivar has resulted antixenosis followed by death of larvae within a week. Antixenosis was characterized by significant decrease of total hemocytes and sharp changes on the proportionate distribution of different types of hemocytes in larvae. As the number of plasmatocytes, prohemocytes, splenocytes and adipohemocytes decreased the number of granulocytes and oenocytes increased. Antixenosis also caused accumulation of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) and significant inhibition on the activities of trypsin like serine protease (TlSP) and phenoloxidase (PO). Phytochemical analysis of Thodan resulted characterization of three larvicides such as Betulinic acid (BA), Stigmasterol-3-O-glucoside (SOG) and Sulfoquinovosyl diacyl glycerol (SQDG), and the content in the pseudostem ranged 0.0027 to 0.007 per cent. All the three larvicides were highly toxic to the larvae with LD50 of 0.38 ppm for SOG, 0.41 ppm for SQDG and 0.83 ppm for BA. Simultaneous action of three larvicides in the live pseudostem resulted resistance in Thodan against infestation by BPB. Susceptible Nendran showed negligibly low content of SOG (0.0011%) and SQDG (0.0013%) but no detectable quantity of BA. Intoxication by all the three larvicides caused significant changes on the proportionate distribution of hemocytes, accumulation of 20-hydroxy ecdysone (20E) and inhibition of TlSP and PO, the enzymes involved in larval metamorphosis and cuticle sclerotisation. This study demonstrated that resistance of Thodan against O. longicollis is due to adverse effect of these larvicides on endocrine system, cuticle development and cytotoxicity of hemocytes. As these larvicide molecules are stable compounds, there is scope for them to be used as substitutes in place of deleterious insecticides for the management BPB.

Banana pseudo-stem weevil (BPW) Odoiporus longicollis Olivier is a serious pest of Musa cultivars which completes its lifecycle as an internal parasite in the pseudo-stem of susceptible host plants. The larval stage of BPW is destructive and difficult to control as larvae are endophytic. Plantains (bananas), resistant to infestation by BPW, exhibited antixenosis against the larvae. Experimental maintenance of the larvae for 4 days in the live pseudo-stem of the resistant plantain resulted in the disruption of carbohydrate metabolism and imbalance of protein-free amino acid turnover. The pseudo-stem possesses three larvicides: stigmasterol-3-O-glucoside (SOG), sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG), and betulinic acid (BA). Larvicides cause significant elevation in hemolymph protein and reduction in total free amino acids. Larvae treated with larvicides showed elevated activities of hexokinase, trehalase, and lactic acid dehydrogenase, which resulted in significant decrease of glucose and trehalose but sharp increase of lactic acid. Also, inhibition in the activity of glycogen phosphorylase caused significant increase of fat body glycogen in affected larvae. At LD20 concentration, toxicities by SOG, SQDG, and BA were similar but antixenosis by the resistant host plant was more severe due to the simultaneous action of three larvicides present in the resistant, live pseudo-stem. Disruption of carbohydrate metabolism and imbalance of protein-amino acid turnover due to toxicity by larvicides resulted in slow death of the larvae. The larval body responded against toxicity through the induction of the amy gene, which resulted in increased synthesis of α-amylase. The protein was sequenced as ID AHN 92452.2 with 496 amino acids, and the gene has 1491 nucleotides. Defense mechanisms by the larvae are not sufficient to resist antixenosis by the host plant. SOG, SQDG, and BA can be used synergistically as a larvicide for the control of BPW.

BackgroundThe banana stem weevil, Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier), is a serious threat to banana cultivation world over. Since banana is a food crop, the use of naturally infecting biological control agents could be an effective alternative to manage the insect pest instead of harmful chemicals. Also, the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi against O. longicollis was used in bioassay.ResultsAmong the Beauveria bassiana isolates tested the median lethal concentration (LC50) 10.468 × 105 conidia ml−1 when treated with B. bassiana (NRCBEFPMP1), two other isolates of B. bassiana, namely NRCBEPF22 and NRCBEPF2, were also effective against O. longicollis and recorded LC50 of 12.617 × 105 and 12.891 × 105 conidia ml−1, respectively. The results of bioassay with different Metarhizium spp. showed variations in efficacy, where the most virulent isolate was M. quizhouense (NRCBEPF11) with LC50 8.050 × 105 conidia ml−1. Scanning electron microscopic analysis showed that B. bassiana and M. quizhouense caused infection by cuticle penetration and completed the infection process in 15 days. The composition of volatile organic compounds released by B. bassiana and M. anisopliae during pathogenesis showed that a significantly high number of known insect volatiles were present in infected insects. Consequently, these volatiles were emission in Insect attractant, Odorant receptor agonist, Plant hormone Plant, and Microbial Metabolites, through the biological activity, such as Methyl salicylate, Benzaldehyde, alpha-Terpineol, Limonene, Benzene, 1,2-dimethoxy, Phthalic acid, 1-Octadecene, Phenylacetaldehyde, 3-Octanone, Octanal, Methylheptenone and 2-Ethyl-1-hexyl alcohol.ConclusionOverall, the results show that EPF could significantly reduce damage by O. longicollis and produce a wide profile of secondary metabolites. Further, analysis was used for principal components to determine whether separated classes of fungi can be distinguished from one another based on their metabolite profiles.

Pseudostem weevil (Odoiporus longicollis) attacks banana crop from 5th month of planting by adult female weevil inserting eggs into pseudostem cavities and emerging out grubs feed on the internal tissues. This weakens the pseudo stem leading to the collapse of the plant. The yield loss due to this pest is estimated as 10-30 per cent and in some cases, it may be up to 90 percent. Indiscriminate usage of chemical pesticides causes resistance in weevils and also results in pesticide residues. It is in this context that a field experiment was conducted to study the effectiveness of bio pesticide from Cassava leaf extract in controlling banana pseudostem weevil. Banana (var. Nendran) fields of 6 ha area scattered in three villages of Ernakulam district, Kerala wasselected to conduct the field study. The effect of cassava leaf extract biopesticide was compared with that of Chlorophyriphos. Data on pest incidence, crop damage, and yield were recorded. None of the plants damaged by the weevil in plants treated with biopesticide. Crop damage to the extent of 19.92 per cent was recorded in plants treated with Chlorophyriphos and 45.16 per cent of plants got damaged in plots where no treatment was done. The average increase in bunch weight by 52 per cent was recorded in plants treated with the biopesticide against 24 per cent increase in bunch weight in plants treated with Chlorophyriphos. Various extension methods were employed to popul

This study evaluated the laboratory and field efficacy of some biopesticides against the banana pseudostem weevil Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier). Sprays were applied five times from 3rd to 11th month at 45 days intervals. The observations such as the oviposition marks, larval galleries, plant death and yield revealed 100% mortality in Avaya and chlorpyriphos and 91.66% in CTCRI-Nanma and neem based product Nimbicidine treatments. The field observations indicated that Nimbicidine and cassava based Nanma significantly reduced the infestation similar to positive control chlorpyriphos, and these were considered under 1st category. The botanicals Zimmu plant extract, gallic acid and Aavya (2nd category) and pongamia and neem soap (3rd category) provided moderate/less protection. It is concluded that the neem based botanical formulations could be effective and safe to use in banana against stem we evil.