Biological suppression of coconut black headed caterpillar Opisina arenosella outbreak in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh – eco friendly technology

Abstract

The leaf eating black headed caterpillar Opisina arenosella is a serious pest of coconut palm causing significant yield loss in all the coconut growing tracts of India. During 2015–16, a high infestation of black headed caterpillar was observed in all the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and an incidence ranging from 42.82% to 62.86% was recorded. From October 2015 to April 2016 inundative releases of about 3,788,000 larval parasitoids Bracon hebetor and Goniozus nephantidis were carried out in pest affected gardens in Allavaram and Uppalaguptam mandals of East Godavari. To study the impact of the parasitoid releases, 10 leaflets/palm were randomly collected from 10 sample gardens in seven villages of these mandals and the pest population recorded. After three months of parasitoid release, the larval population of O. arenosella decreased by 34.08–75.88%, pupal population by 33.33–94.52%, and the paralysed larval population recovered was 8.30–26.92%. After six months, the larval population decreased by 59.65–100%, the pupal population up to 92.77–100% and the paralysed larval population recovery was also high, ranging from 18.68% to 34.61%. The impact of inundative release of bio agents for suppression of leaf eating caterpillar was prominent, after six months providing impetus to the role of biological control in pest management. The assumed overall economic loss prevented due to this intervention was 192.6 million rupees.