Biology of pyralid fruit borer, Deanolis albizonalis Hampson: a new pest of mango.
Sujatha A., Zaheruddeen S. M.
Author Affiliation: Agricultural Research Station (ARS), Ambajipeta - 533 214, A.P., India.
Journal of Applied Zoological Researches 13 : 1-5
Abstract : The mango fruit borer, D. albizonalis is thought to be recorded as a new pest, causing alarming losses to mango in Andhra Pradesh, India. The pest has a short life cycle of less than one month with 3 to 4 generations during a mango planting season. The adult moth is medium sized, brown in colour, and also has a prominent snout. Wings are ashy wood in colour mixed with a bluish-pink metallic shine. Males differ from the females by the presence of brush-like black hairs on the upper side of the mesothoracic femur and tibia. Maximum moth emergence was noticed between 20.00 and 24.00 h. The longevity of the adult was very short - 2.5 (female) and 2.9 (male) days with a sex ratio of 1.00:0.88. Mating was observed between 20.30 and 20.40 h. The stalks of inflorescences and fruits were the most preferred sites for oviposition. Fecundity ranged from 4 to 38 with a preoviposition period of 2 days. The larva is cream-coloured and has a brown head. The fully grown larva has two black markings on the first thoracic segment and 11 pink bands from the second thoracic segment dorsally. The mean larval period was 12.4 days with three larval instars. Dead wood, cracks, and crevices of the bark were pupation sites and pupal period was 13.43 days with distinct prepupal period of 2.7 days. The pest has got prepupal diapause during off-season. There was no difference in biology of the pest on different mango cultivars.