Ephestia cautella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): An emerging pest on Garlic in storage

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the occurrence and biology of Ephestia cautella (Walker) on garlic in storage during 2015 at Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune. At first, pest infestation was noticed during August month in 30 days old harvested seed bulbs stored for the next season. Pest activity observed throughout August-November months. The sampling for infestation at fortnight interval revealed that, maximum infestation up to 14 larvae in a sample was recorded at 45 days after storage (DAS). Presence of adult activity, webbed galleries and fecal matter in the stored bulbs were the mark of infestation. All the stages of the life cycle of the insects were observed on garlic. Egg-incubation, larva, pupa and adult survival duration was 4.4 ± 0.24 days, 9.87 ± 0.12, 7.12 ± 0.37 and 11.50 ± 1.50 days, respectively. The total life cycle of moth last about 32.99 days while reared on garlic. The total numbers of eggs laid per female was 146.6 ± 10.76 and adult to egg laying duration was 4.65 ± 0.29 days. The information on pest description, damage symptom and biology documented with this study would be helpful in early detection and monitoring of this pest on garlic at storage and future research to managing this emerging pest. This is a new record from Maharashtra.