References on Mango

Reddy P. V. R., Chakravarthy A. K., Sudhagar S., Kurian R. M.

Author Affiliation: Division of Entomology and Nematology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake P. O., 560 089 Bengaluru, India.
Current Biotica 8 : 191-194

Abstract : This paper describes a simple, cost-effective and an easy-to-adopt technique for capturing adults of stem- or trunk-boring insects. This method has been successfully used at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, to capture the adult beetles of Cerambycidae and Buprestidae emerging from trunk and branches of mango trees during June-September 2014. The borer affected trunks or branches have to be identified by the presence of the droppings of faecal matter or the chewed wood material. After locating the target trees, the stem portion containing the active holes was wrapped with a white transparent nylon mesh 40 in June. The ends of the mesh were tied with a gunny thread, so that the trapped beetles do not escape. The mesh traps were observed every day for the presence of beetles. From the second week of June, the beetles started emerging out and getting trapped in the mesh. The trunk borer, Batocera rufomaculata, was the first to emerge and the maximum emergence (4/10 trees) was recorded during the second week of July. The next species to emerge was Glenea multiguttata in the fourth week of June, followed by a buprestid and Coptops sp.. Of these, G. multiguttata was numerically the most dominant species (mean of 9.0/tree), with peak period of emergence being the first fortnight of September. B. rufomaculata has emerged out from trunk of the mango tree, while the other three species had emerged out of lateral branches. The new technique is useful to monitor the timing of borer emergence as well as to collect and destroy the beetles so that subsequent infestation could be effectively curtailed and has scope for use in fruit crops such as mango, grape, guava and jackfruit.