Crab caterpillar - Stauropus alternus Wlk. (Notodontidae: Lepidoptera). A new pest of sapota (Achras sapota L.).
Siddappaji C., Reddy M. P., Pattanshetti H. V.
Author Affiliation: University of Agricultural Sciences, Regional Research Station, Mudigere, Karnataka, India.
Current Science 43 :631
Abstract : Neostauropus (Stauropus) alternus (Wlk.), which is known in India as an occasion pest of red gram (Cajanus cajan (indicus)), tea (Camellia sinensis), mango, cacao, Xylia dolabriformis and Terminalia paniculata, was recorded in 1973 for the first time on sapodilla (Achras zapota) in Mudigere in the State of Karnataka, where it caused serious damage to the foliage of newly planted grafts. The females lay about 100 eggs each, singly, on the lower surface of the leaves near the margin; the ensuing larvae begin feeding at the leaf margins, work inwards to the midrib and pupate in coccons on the leaves.