Timing of spray intervention in the management of mango stone weevil, Sternochetus mangiferae (Fabricius).
Abraham Verghese, Nagaraju D. K., Vasudev V.
Author Affiliation: Fruit Entomology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake P.O., Bangalore - 560 089, India.
Insect Environment 10 : 62-64
Abstract : The appropriate timing of insecticide application for the control of S. mangiferae on 9 mango cultivars (Alphonso, Banganpalli, Bombay Green, Jahangir, Langra, Mulgoa, Raspuri, Suvarnarekha and Totapuri) was studied in Hessaraghatta, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, during 2001, 2002 and 2003. The initial infestation of fruits, which significantly varied with the cultivar and year, was observed between 12 March and 22 April. The high variation between dates suggested that this parameter may not be a good basis of the date of insecticide application. The initial incidence of infestation was observed in fruits with diameters ranging from 2.99 to 5.31 cm and circumference ranging from 6.50 to 10.97 cm. The range of values for both parameters were also high. On the other hand, the diameter of fruits during initial infestation varied from 2.03 to 3.22 cm; as such, this parameter was ideal as basis for recommendation. Thus, in mango, spray intervention may be given when majority of the fruits are between 2.0 and 3.2 cm in diameter.