20004A--Sandeep Singh Indian Journal of Entomology 83(2021) Online published Ref. No. e20004A DoI No.: 10.5958/0974-8172.2021.00029.8 FIRST REPORT OF FRUIT BORER CADRA CAUTELLA (WALKER) ON BER IN PUNJAB SANDEEP SINGH, P R SHASHANK1 AND RAJWINDER KAUR SANDHU Department of Fruit Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004 1Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012 Email: [email protected] (corresponding author) ABSTRACT A study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of insect pests in the ber orchards in Punjab during 2017 and 2018. The infestation of Cadra cautella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was observed in ber fruits at the Fruit Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during November-December. About 10% fruits of variety Sanaur were observed to be infested by black coloured larvae making tunnels inside. This is the first report of field infestation by C. cautella on ber fruits from India. Key words: Fruit borer, ber, Punjab, Cadra cautella, Pyralidae, new report, fruits, tunnels, leaf and fruit webbing, distribution, hosts, diagnosis The ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.) is one of the bark eating caterpillar, Indarbela quadrinotata most ancient cultivated fruit trees of north India. It (Walker); leaf roller, Psorosticha zizyphi (Stainton); is believed to be originated in Indo-Malaysian region American bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner); of South-East Asia (Janick and Paull, 2008) and is castor semilooper, Achaea (=Acanthodelta) janata widely cultivated from southern Africa to the Indian L.; castor capsule borer, Conogethes punctiferalis subcontinent, China, Indomalaya, Australia and Pacific (Guenee); tussock moths, Euproctis basilis Moore Islands. It is also known as ‘desert apple’ and in India, and Euproctis lunata Walker; defoliating beetles viz. it is a major fruit crop of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Adoretus sp., Myllocerus undecimpustulatus Faust, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Anomala sp. and Apogonia sp.; tortoise beetles, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. In India, Platypria erinaceous Weise, Cassida exilis Boheman, ber is cultivated in 50 thousand ha (Anonymous, Oocassida pudibunda Boheman and Glyphocassis 2018), and in Punjab in 1767 ha with yield of 16766 trilineata (Hope); six-spotted flea beetle, Scelodonta kg/ ha and 29626 mt production (Anonymous, 2019). strigicollis (Motschulsky); weevils, Xanthochelus This fruit crop is highly adaptable to adverse climatic faunus (Olivier) and Hypolixus truncatulus F., flower conditions; however, yield losses due to insect pests feeding beetle, Oxycetonia versicolor (F.); chrysomelid do occur. More than 130 species of insects are known beetle, Diapromorpha sp., and Cryptocephalus to infest ber in India, but only few have attained the sp.; carpet beetle, Anthrenus sp., net winged flower status of pest (Lakra and Bhatti, 1985). The pests such beetle, Lycostomus sp., termites, Odontotermes sp. as fruit fly (Carpomyia vesuviana Costa), chafer beetle and Microtermes sp.; jujube mite, Eriophyes cernuus (Holotrichia sp.) and bark eating caterpillars (Indarbela Massee and jujube false spider mite, Larvacarus tetraonis Moore, I. quadrinotata Walker) are the major transitans (Ewing) and thrips, Scitrothrips dorsalis pests (Karuppaiah et al., 2010). (Hood). Intensive farming operations, introduction of improved varieties and irrigation methods lead to Singh (2016) reported 37 insect and mite pests unpredictable change in pests of ber. Keeping this infesting ber in Punjab, and these belong to the orders in view, surveys were made in Punjab to observe the Coleoptera (17), Lepidoptera (8), Hemiptera (6), Isoptera emerging insect pests infesting ber. (2), Diptera (2) and Acari (2). These include fruit flies, Carpomyia vesuviana Costa and Bactrocera dorsalis MATERIALS AND METHODS (Hendel); hopper, Qadria pakistanica (Ahmed); lac insect, Kerria lacca (Kerr); mealy bugs, Planococcus Roving surveys were carried out throughout citri (Risso), Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) and the ber growing regions of Punjab during 2017 and Drosicha sp.; wax scale, Drepanococcus chiton (Green); 2018. Fixed and plot surveys were carried out in the Jujube butterfly, Tarucus theophrastus (Fabricius); Fruit Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University, 2 Indian Journal of Entomology 83(2021) Online published Ref. No. e20004A Ludhiana (30°54’02.8”N, 75°47’34.3”E). Twenty ber trees were randomly observed and the ber fruits were a found to be infested with a fruit borer. Infested fruits were collected and the emerging larvae were reared in the Fruit Entomology Laboratory, Department of Fruit Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab. The specimens of adults were sent to the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi for identification and it was identified as Cadra cautella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION During surveys, C. cautella was observed on ber fruits for the first time in Punjab during 2017 and b 2018. The larvae were observed infesting fruits during November-December. About 10% fruits of variety Sanaur were observed to be infested by black larvae. The larvae were elongated caterpillars feeding on the pulp of fruits and making tunnels through the fruit (Fig. 1a). They feed from the surface of the fruit and continue inside making webs. In case of heavy infestation, the whole fruit from inside was eaten up and damaged while the outer surface had holes of entrance. Fruits get dried, became empty and turn brown. Brownish excreta were observed near the entry hole on the surface of the fruit. Webbing by the borer results in joining of damaged fruits with the leaves (Fig.1b) and joining two fruits with each other (Fig. 1c). Oviposition takes place on the fruits which are c partially dried. Eggs are laid singly on fruits, are whitish, turning to pale yellow near hatching. Eggs take 2-3 days for hatching and newly emerged larva are creamish- white. Head is broader than body and yellowish brown. Larval stage passes through six instars and enters into prepupal stage. Pupae are pale yellow and turn into dark brown before adult emergence. Adults are pale grey while head and thorax are dark grey (Fig. 2, 3). Females are larger in size (Rathod, 1989). Cadra cautella is also known as dried currant moth, tropical warehouse moth and fig moth. It is a cosmopolitan and had been observed on dried plant materials and stored products from tropical and subtropical regions Fig. 1. C. cautella on ber. a, larva inside fruit; b, damaged fruit viz., Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, webbed with leaf; c, two fruits webbed together Bhutan, Brazil, Croatia, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Laos, Other hosts: Citrus, chocolate, stored tobacco, stored Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, apple, dehydrated onion, groundnut, maize, cereals, Egypt, South Africa and Germany (LepIntercept, 2014). tamarind, dried fruits, soybean, date palm, grape vine India: Pantnagar, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Kanpur, and cocoa bean (Rathod, 1989). Haryana, Mysore, Manipur, Punjab (Rahman and Khan, 1944; Ramzan and Singh, 1982). Diagnosis: Adults are greyish brown with an First report of fruit borer Cadra cautella (Walker) on ber in Punjab 3 Sandeep Singh et al. indistinct pattern. The labial palps curved upwards in a front of head with blunt tip. Wing span ranges from 10- 18 mm. Forewings have broadly rounded tips and with short fringes. Forewing with basal coastal fold. Hind- wings whitish with rounded tips and veins visible. Male genitalia dorsal thickenings of the annelus produced posteriorly into triangular trastillae and with broad median lobes (Fig 2b). Female ovipositor short and partially sclerotised on dorsal surface. Ductus bursae with longitudinal sclerite (Fig 2c). This species can be confused with Plodia interpunctella (Indian meal moth) but can be differentiated from a dark band separating Male genitalia the two differently coloured halves of the forewing. b Cadra cautella also known as almond moth is widely spread in the tropics and subtropics. It is serious pest of dried fruits and stored grain products. Damaging stage is the larval stage. Moths are generally more abundant during rainy and humid seasons (Srivastava and Subramanian, 2016). Heavy infestation of C. cautella Male genitalia has been reported on tree beans, Parkia timoriana, a leguminous plant, both in field and in storage at Manipur (Thangjam et al., 2003). This is the only report of its c a Female genitalia Fig. 3a-c. Male and female genitalia of C. Cautella field infestation. Field infestation on inflorescence and b pods continued into stored conditions causing extensive damage in sealed bags. Cadra cautella had been identified as the cause of premature fruit drop inPinus roxburghii during 2014 and 2015 at Manipur, India (Ningombam et al., 2018). This borer is also reported as serious pest on date fruits both in field and in storage conditions in Saudi Arabia (Rees, 2007; Aldawood et al., 2013; Husain et al., 2017). According to Alwaneen et al. (2019), primary infestation of this pest gets initiated in the field when date fruits were still on the trees and continued to storage. This study revealed that ber is a new host tree of C. Fig. 2a-b. Adult of Cadra cautella cautella and had not been reported so far in the field 4 Indian Journal of Entomology 83(2021) Online published Ref. No. e20004A conditions. This is the first report of the occurrence of Janick J, Paull R E 2008. The encyclopedia of fruit and nuts. CABI. 972 pp. C. cautella on ber fruits in the orchard during November Karuppaiah V, More T A, Sivalingam P N, Khan H, Bagle B G. 2010. to February and serious damage was observed on fruits. Prevailing insect pests of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk) and their natural enemies in hot arid ecosystem. Haryana Journal of The borer is generally reported as widely distributed Horticultural Science 39(3&4): 214-216. under storage conditions and as a serious pest of stored Lakra R K, Bhatti D S. 1985. Insect pest of ber with special reference to cereals and dry fruits in India and other parts of the fruit fly,Carpomyia vesuviana Costa.