By

Dharmendra Singh Lagoriya

BSA-11-410

Introduction
Scientific name: Earias vitella,
Lepidoptera)

E. insulana (Noctuidae:

Appearance:
Earias vittella :
Eggs are spherical, single and light bluish green colour
with longitudinal ridges.
Caterpillar is brownish white with number of brown and
milky white markings.
Adult moths are medium sized (13-15 mm) with head
and thorax pale brownish white.
Hind wings are silvery-creamy white.
while in fore wings in E. vittella are pale white with a
broad wedge shaped horizontal green band in the middle.

 Earias insulana:
Larva Brown with dorsum showing a white median longitudinal
streak.
Pupa Brown and boat shaped
Adult -Forewing uniformly silvery green

Distribution and status

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Indonesia, New Guinea and Fiji.
More abundant in South India than North India.

Host range
Oligophagus,
Abelmoschus esculentus (okra)
Abutilon (Indian mallow)
Gossypium (cotton)
Gossypium arboreum (cotton, tree)
Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton)
Hibiscus (rosemallows)
Holly hock and other malvaceous vegetables.

List of symptoms/signs
Fruit
Fruit
Growing point
Inflorescence
Leaves
Stems

internal feeding
obvious exit hole
internal feeding boring
internal feeding
wilting
internal feeding

Symptoms of damage
Affected shoots wither, growing point is killed and side
shoots may arise.
Shedding of buds and flowers
Bore hole in fruits and feed
Damaged buds and flowers fall while affected fruits are
Deformed.
Affected fruit is unfit for consumption.
Affected fruit show entry hole plugged with excreta.
Bored fruits lose their market value.

Description of damage
symptoms
Larva bores into tender terminal shoots in the
vegetative stage and flower buds, flowers and young
fruits in the fruit formation stage.
The damaged shoots droop, wither and dry up.
The infested fruits present a deformed appearance and
become unfit for consumption.
Bore holes plugged with excreta.

Cont.
Infestation generally starts with shoot boring in the young
crop.
E. vittella enters the terminal bud of the vegetative shoot and
channels downward from the growing point, or directly
penetrates the internode.
Mostly soft growing tissue is attacked.
Extensive tunneling will result in the wilting of the top leaves
and the collapse of the apex of the main stem.
If only the apical bud is attacked, damage may not be noticed
until the main stem divides ('twinning') as the axillary buds
take over.
Attack moves to buds and flowers as they appear, which wither
and are shed.

Cont
There is usually a conspicuous hole the shedding of minute
buds, often blamed on midribs, might be due to very young
Earias larvae.
The tendency for secondary invasion by fungi and bacteria may
conceal the infestation.
The attack of okra follows a similar pattern to that of cotton.
Terminal shoots are bored initially, with attack moving to flower
buds and fruit as they appear.
Severe attack causes the shedding of flower buds and reduced
yield.
When attacking the fruit, the larvae feed on the milky seeds and
other contents of the capsule , leaving excrement filled tunnels.

Life cycle
Egg period: 3-4 days.
385-400 eggs / female.
Spherical, light bluish, green, crown shaped, laid singly
on shoot tips, buds, flowers and fruits.
Larva: 10-17 days.
Six instars.: Pupa: 6-10 days.
Pupates in an inverted boat shaped cocoon.
completing life cycle 20-25 days.

Earias vitella

Earisa insulana

Management
Cultural:
Grow resistant cultivars like AE 57, PMS 8,
Parkins Long green, PKX 9275, Karnual Special.
Pusa Swani is highly susceptible.
Collect and destroy infested shoots, buds,
flowers and fruits.
Remove the alternate hosts like Hibiscus
cannabinus, H. abelmoschus and Abutilon
indicum in the cropped area.

Physical
Set up light traps to monitor the moths and their
egg laying @ 12/ha
Set up sex pheromone traps @ 5/acre. The peak activity is
noticed during November January

Biological
Release egg parasitoid
Trichogramma chilonis
@40,000/acre three time and egglarval parasitoid Chelonus
blackburnii can also released .
Release first instar larvae of green
lacewing Chrysoperla carnea @
10,000/ha.
Spray Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t )
formulation such as dipel @ 2 g / lit.

Chemical