Population dynamics of Spodoptera litura (Fab.

) in soybean using Pheromone traps

M. Punithavalli1, A. N. Sharma2 and M. Balaji Rajkumar3 Division of Crop Protection, Directorate of Soybean Research, Indore 625 001 India
1 2

Scientist, Directorate of Soybean Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Principal Scientist, Directorate of Soybean Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. 3 Scientist, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad

The common cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Fab.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is one of the most important agricultural pests in the tropical Asia. It has been reported to attack over 112 cultivated plant species in world wide of which 60 species are from India. In the last 15 years, it has extended its host range to other crops such as cotton, mungbean, ground nut, eggplant, rice, cabbage and leafy vegetables, which includes soybean (Sridhar 1988). It grabbed the attention when it appeared in epidemic form on soybean at Kota, Rajasthan followed by Vidarbha of Maharashtra during 2008. It caused a wide spread loss estimated three billion US dollars. (Dhaliwal and Koul 2010). The larvae feeds extensively on leaves and the yield losses directly associated with the larval population. Effective management of insect pest relies on the early detection of insect pests, hopefully before they establish and causes damage. The package of management practices developed at Directorate of Soybean Research (DSR), emphasize the need of improved adult/flight monitoring systems for forecasting. The pheromone traps are one of the monitoring tools for relatively large areas to find presence of moth. The experiment was carried out to study the seasonal occurrence pattern of the common cutworm S. litura moths captured in synthetic pheromone traps (litlure) and associated field populations of eggs and larvae in soybean at D, Indore, India during 2009 2011. In soybean, male moths of S. litura, first appeared in late July to early August, and thereafter were present continuously upto late October. Maximum number of male moths captured in pheromone traps occurred during mid September to early October coinciding with the reproductive stages of soybean. Similarly, the early appearance of S. litura egg masses and larval population evidenced after the first appearance of male moths in early to mid August, and were generally present in the growing season upto late September to mid October. The peak appearance of egg masses and larval population always corresponding to the peak activity of male moths recorded during mid September in all the years. It is evident from the correlation studies proved that the weekly mean of trap catches were linearly and positively correlated with egg masses and larval population during all the growing season of soybean. Seasonal means of male moth catches in pheromone

traps had shown on par population during 2010 and 2011 seasons, significantly lower than the catches of 2009 epidemic season. However, the egg masses and larval population seasonal means are not significantly differed in all years. Interestingly, the moth catches, egg masses and larval population were considerably reduced the peaks in season 2010 and 2011 to the tune of 2.5 and 1.5 times compared to epidemic season 2009. Pheromone traps may be useful indicators of the onset of numbers of S. litura eggs and larvae in soybean fields.

References Dhaliwal, G.S., Vikas Jindal, & Dhawan, A.K. (2010). Insect pest problems and crop losses: Changing Trends. Indian Journal of Ecology, 37: 1-7. Sridhar, P., Devarjaurs, K.C., & Mohammed, A.B. (1988). Relationship between pheromone traps catches of male moths and population egg masses of Spodoptera litura (F.) in ground nut crops. Tropical Pest Management, 334: 432:434.