Field survey of associated mirid fauna of the mango leaf webber pest, Orthaga exvinacea Hampson (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
Rafeeq A. P. M. M., Ranjini K. R.
Author Affiliation: Department of Zoology, Malabar Christian College, Calicut - 673 001, India.
Journal of Experimental Zoology, India 16 : 705-708
Abstract : Orthaga exvinacea is a lepidopteran pest, the adult moth do not directly cause any economic damage to the host plant. The larvae of the Pyralid moth are voracious leaf eaters that web together the cluster of leaves in to a colony. A heavily infested tree shows many cluster of webbed and dried leaves, presenting it a conspicuous burnt up appearance. Field surveys and laboratory observations on the biology and behaviour of the mango leaf webber pest, Orthaga exvinacea Hampson, revealed the existence of some associate entomofauna. The dried larval web forms a microhabitat for some species of ants, coleopterans, hemipterans and spiders. The insect species which live in associate with the Orthaga exvinacea larva include two species of Miridae, Termatophylina indiana (Heteroptera: Miridae: Dearaecorinae) and Charagochilus sp. (Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirinae). A field survey was carried out to show the positive correlations between the density of Orthaga larva and density of Mirid in a sampling study of 100 Orthaga larval webbings.