Species:
 
Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner, 1809)
   
Common name:
 
cotton bollworm
   
corn earworm
   
Old World (African) bollworm
   
tobacco budworm
   
gram pod borer
   
Damaging stage:
 
Larvae
   
Crops Affected:
 
Cucurbits, solanaceous, legumes, cotton, tobacco, onion
   
Characteristic Damage:
 
Attacks flowers, fruits and leaves.
   
Feeding causes holes in the affected areas.  Larvae creates holes as they bore into the fruits, they consume the flesh leaving the fruit hollow.
   
Frass are usually found alongside the feeding hole or within the fruit cavity.
   
Management and Control:
 
Monitor the area regularly.
   
Hand pick the larvae to reduce the population.
   
Remove weeds and volunteer plants that may serve as alternate hosts.
   
Cultivate the soil by plowing and harrowing and use plastic mulch to minimize pupation in the soil.
   
Use of natural enemies like Trichogramma spp..
   
Plant trap crops like sunflower, taro or castor plants around the area.
   
Use of pathogens like the nuclear polyhedrosis virus and entomopathogenic fungi Aspergillus  flavus, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae to reduce cutworm population.
   
Apply botanical insecticide like neem extract.
   
Apply lamda-cyhalothrin, tebufenozide and fipronil when necessary.
   
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicoverpa_armigera
http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/26757
http://wiki.bugwood.org/Spodoptera_litura

 

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