Studies on Biology and Morphometris of Hadda Beetle, Epilachna Vigintioctopunctata
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International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research (IJASR) ISSN 2250-0057 Vol. 3 Issue 4, Oct 2013, 133-138 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. STUDIES ON BIOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRIS OF HADDA BEETLE, EPILACHNA VIGINTIOCTOPUNCTATA (COLEOPTERA: COCCINELLIDAE) A SERIOUS PEST OF BITTER GOURD, MOMORDICA CHARANTIA, IN EASTERN UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA ANOORAG RAJNIKANT TAYDE & SOBITA SIMON Department of Plant Protection, School of Agriculture, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Deemed University, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India ABSTRACT Results revealed that a single female of Epilachna vigintioctopunctata laid 211 to 328 eggs during life span. Eggs were yellowish elongated and cigar shaped often in a group of 5 to 45. Eggs were hatched into grubs within 5 to 11 days. Newly hatched 1st instar was yellowish in color and had six rows of long branched spines. The full frown 4th instar grub spent 1 to 3 days in pre-pupal stage. The pupal period lasted for 3 to 5 days with an average of 4.4 ± 0.89 days. The newly emerged adult was shiny yellow in color later changed to copper brown color mottled with black spots. Body was spherical with convex ventral surface and flat dorsal surface and gives appearance of ‘D’ when viewed from side. The average longevity of male and female was 51.4 and 64.8 days respectively. The pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition period were 21.4, 26.6 and 21.6 respectively. However present investigation clears that it is a pest of cucurbitaceous hosts also and is a serious pest of Momordica charanti. It causes defoliation and stunted growth and finally reduces yield of it. KEYWORDS: Biology, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata, Momordica charantia, Pest INTRODUCTION Insects are economically important organism, some of them are beneficial and some are harmful to human being and his things of interest. Beneficial insects are used as food, for production of silk, medicine and other products useful to human being. Some of them play important role in pollination. Insects which are called pests transmit disease in society and cause damage to the crops, timber forests etc. An animal whose population increases to such an extent as to causes economic losses to crops or a nuisance and health hazard to human being and his live stock is called pests (Deshmukh et al. 2012). An insect belonging to Coleoptera, the largest order not only of insects but also of entire animal kingdom. The name Coleoptera is derived from a Greek word koleon, means “Sheath” and pteron, means “Wing”. It refers to beetle’s wing. Economically, beetles are important in two basic ways. On the debit side, plant feeding, when abundant, are pests of agriculture crops and forest trees. On credit side, predatory species contribute significantly to man’s attempt to control plant feeding pest. Momordica charantia, commonly called bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae along with cucumber, squash, watermelon, and muskmelon. It is probably originated from the Indian sub-continent (Deshmukh et al. 2012). It is a fast growing vine, which is native to China and India. Today, it is grown throughout Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, despite it is among the most bitter of all fruits. The Latin name Momordica means “to bite” which refers to the jagged edges of the leaf, which appear as if they have been bitten. It has nutritional and medicinal value since it contains important elements such as Vitamin C 33.00 mg, Calcium 9 mg, Magnesium 16 mg, Potassium 319 mg and Phosphorus 36 mg. 134 Anoorag Rajnikant Tayde & Sobita Simon Bitter gourd is attacked by many insect pests like Red pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora foveicollis), Aphids (Aphis sp.) and Fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae and Ducus dorsalis), which are known to be the major pests of bitter gourd. Epilachna dodecatigma (Wied.) and Epilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab are serious pests of vegetables (Khan et al., 2000). Epilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab and Epilachna dodecatigma (Wied.) are serious pests of vegetables (Khan et al., 2000). It can be easily identified by its 14 spots or 28 spots on its dorsal body. It has never been reported as a serious pest of bitter gourd in Eastern U.P. and for the first time it was observed to cause extensive damage to the crop. Epilachna beetle is fairly common and cause damage to the Solanaceous and Cucurbitaceous crops (Khan et al., 2000). The peak infestation period of Hadda beetle varies from region to region. In Eastern U.P, it was observed during July and August. Both adult beetles and grubs feed on the epidermal tissue of the leaves by scrapping on the leaf surface. This results in the leaves becoming dry and eventually shed. Sometimes it is called leaf scrapping Coccinellid beetle (Imura and Ninomiya, 1978). The growth and development of the plants are greatly hampered and the yield is markedly reduced by the attack of Hadda beetle (Alam, 1969). The grubs confine their attack to the lower surface of the leaves and adults usually feed on the upper surface of the leaves (Prodhan et al., 1990). The third and the fourth instar grubs are most destructive and voracious. Rajgopal and Trivedi (1989) reported that Epilachna beetle may damage upto 80% of plant; however, percentage seasonal damage varies depending on prevailing environmental conditions. Hossain et al., (2009), have studied effect of different host plants on growth and development Epilachna beetle. However information of biology of Epilachna beetle as a pest of Momordica charantia is scanty. So efforts are made to focus on this point. This study forms new report on Epilachna beetle as a pest of Momordica charantia in this region of Western U.P. (India). MATERIALS AND METHODS Attack of Epilachna larvae (grubs) and adult were observed on Bitter gourd Momordica charantia, during first week of June, 2012. Newly laid egg masses and grubs were collected from the field and confined to glass jars having a circular filter paper spread over the bottom, at suitable temperature ± 24oC and 53% R.H. and provided daily fresh bitter gourd leaves serve as food kept in a glass jar. Cleaning i.e. removal of non-consumed leaves, excavate of grubs was done during the time of feeding. The mouth of the jar was with muslin cloth tightly. The moist absorbent cotton was kept over the muslin cloth to maintain the humidity and for better egg laying. Eggs laid by the female in muslin cloth, blotting paper and filer paper were isolated daily with the help of moist hair brush and transferred to Petri dish having a circular filter paper spread over the bottom. The Petri dish bearing the eggs kept for studying the incubation period. In each Petri dish 50 eggs were placed and observations on hatching of eggs were recorded twice daily. The rearing of larvae was carried out individually in Petri dish, and observations pertaining to larval and pupal duration, pre-ovipostion, ovipostion, post- ovipostion period and longevity were recorded. The male beetles were distinguished from the female by abdominal character, by presence of cut in the sub genital plate. The number of eggs laid by each female during life time was observed to study the fecundity recorded. The length and breadth of eggs, different instars of grub, pupa and adult were measured by using a stereoscopic binocular microscope, fitted with an ocular micrometer calibrated with a stage micrometer. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Study of lifecycle of Epilachna vigintioctopunctata (Figure 1) showed complete metamorphosis with four different stages; Egg, Grub (Larva), Pupa and Adult (Beetle). Freshly laid eggs on the leaves of bitter gourd were yellowish elongated and cigar shaped often in group of 5 to 45. The female laid as many as 211 to 378 eggs during the life span with an average of 279.8 ± 45.59 eggs. Observation on measurement revealed that the length of eggs varied from 1.28 to 1.61 Studies on Biology and Morphometris of Hadda Beetle, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 135 a Serious Pest of Bitter Gourd, Momordica charantia, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India (Av. 1.44 ± 0.12) mm, while the breath varied from 0.30 to 0.52 (Av. 0.41 ± 0.07) mm (Table 1). The incubation period of the eggs under laboratory conditions ranged between 5 to 11 Days with an average of 7.8 ± 2.58 days (Table 2). Hatching % of the eggs were 56.60 %. Verma and Anandhi (2008) observed the incubation period of E. vigintioctopunctata as 5.3 days, Similarly Qamar et al., (2009) recorded 4.0 days of incubation period on Brinjal. Newly hatched 1st instar larvae were yellowish in color and had six rows of long branched spines. The average duration of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th instar was 4.8 ± 1.64, 3.4 ± 0.55, 2.6 ± 1.14 and 6.2 ± 1.92 days respectively, while 2.6, 2.9, 2.5 and 6.8 days were reported by Verma and Anandhi (2008) and 2.9, 2.5, 2.6 and 5.8 days were reported by Qamar et al., (2009) in Brinjal. Observation on measurement revealed that the average length and breadth of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th instar was 2.09 ± 0.02 mm and 1.12 ± 0.26 mm, 2.99 ± 0.32 mm and 1.43 ± 0.16 mm, 4.16 ± 0.17 and 1.92 ± 0.31 & 6.18 ± 0.37 and 3.02 ± 0.34 respectively. The total larval period was between 13-21 days with an average of 13.2 ± 5.43 days. Verma and Anandhi (2008) observed the larval period as 15.1 ± 4.90 days while 14.9 ± 0.43 days was reported by Qamar et al., (2009).