The Black spotted, Yellow Borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenée and Allied Species

357 Pages·2018·12.58 MB·English

by  Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy

Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy Editor
The Black spotted,
Yellow Borer,
Conogethes
punctiferalis Guenée
and Allied Species
The Black spotted, Yellow Borer, Conogethes
punctiferalis Guenée and Allied Species
Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy
Editor
The Black spotted, Yellow
Borer, Conogethes
punctiferalis Guenée and
Allied Species
Editor
Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy
Division of Entomology and Nematology
ICAR-Indian Institue of Horticultural Research
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
ISBN 978-981-13-0389-0 ISBN 978-981-13-0390-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0390-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018950566
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Foreword
The Black spotted, Yellow Borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenée and Allied
Species provides exciting insights into the biology of this economically important
group of moths with beautiful yellow wings and black dots or patches. For example,
males of Conogethes use ultrasonic courtship calls to attract females, as well as to
ward off competing males. These and other interesting and useful facts about
Conogethes moths are found in this book.
The genus Conogethes is a group of Southeast Asian moths of great economic
importance because the larvae of one species, C. punctiferalis, also commonly
called the yellow peach moth, are borers of fruit trees. This book is well illustrated
with 22 chapters and offers insights into the life history, ecology, and behavior of a
group of moths for the general enthusiast of moth biology. For practitioners, it pro-
vides in-depth information about identification, occurrence, pest risk analysis,
reproductive physiology, prediction models, mass rearing, host-plant relationships,
biological control, pheromones, and integrated pest management. The information
in this book will be useful to those that design experiments to address challenging
questions about the biology of Conogethes and other borers.
In 1896, Sir George Hampson collated various generic and species names applied
to this group of moths under the genus Dichocrocis in the fourth volume about
Pyraloidea in The Fauna of British India Including Ceylon and Burma. He created
this group based on external structures, color patterns, and wing venation, but
advances in morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic analytical techniques in
the last 120+ years have brought considerable changes to the higher classification
and composition of this group of moths. In 1896, Hampson placed Dichocrocis in
the family Pyralidae and subfamily Pyraustinae, but they are now in the family
Crambidae and subfamily Spilomelinae, in the genus Conogethes Meyrick. Achille
Guenée first described C. punctiferalis in 1854, and unfortunately the species iden-
tification problems have endured. Pyraloid workers have known for many decades
that C. punctiferalis is a complex of species, with undescribed species new to sci-
ence. Recently, host-related moths previously identified as C. punctiferalis have
been registered as new and different species.
This book has benefited from the expertise of a number of entomologists and
researchers who generously contributed relevant information and research material.
Most of the contributors are Indians because Conogethes and a majority of its host
plants are native to India. Conogethes is a pest of quarantine importance worldwide.
v
vi Foreword
Conogethes populations are expected to expand geographically, intensifying poten-
tial damage because of global trade, frequent exchange of horticultural produce,
human transit, porous boundaries between countries, and inadequate quarantine and
phytosanitary protocols for this particular group of moths. This book will contribute
to the realistic management of the pest, provide useful data for use by policy mak-
ers, and, ultimately, spark interest in these biologically interesting pyraloid moths
and their larvae, and propel further studies by researchers, students, and teachers.
SEL, USDA, Smithsonian Institution M. Alma Solis
National Museum Natural History, [email protected]
Washington, DC, USA
Preface
In early 1980s, attention was drawn to the shoot and fruit-borer, Conogethes spp.
infesting cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) – the Queen of spices in the pictur-
esque Western Ghats region, South India. Western Ghats represents evergreen tropi-
cal forests tract with deep green valleys and blue-clad rolling mountains interspersed
with twining narrow lanes. Conogethes moths infesting cardamom appeared differ-
ent from the similar-looking moths infesting castor beans, Ricinus communis.
Interestingly, Japanese workers too observed two types of moths, as also workers
from few other countries. It is only at the beginning of the twenty-first century that
the species branded C. punctiferalis were delineated into new species using molecu-
lar and integrative taxonomic tools. One of the most recent examples has been
Conogethes sahyadriensis from India as founded by Shashank and others in 2018.
According to Richard Mally (Chap. 1), C. punctiferalis represents a species com-
plex and little is known about the ecology and phylogeny of these moths. Molecular
tools–assisted diagnoses are paving way for comprehensive identification of host-
related Conogethes moth populations (Vasudev Kammar et al., Chap. 2). The
Southeast Asia is rich in species richness of Conogethes and it needs extensive and
intensive research (Kumar et al., Chap. 4). Du, Li, and Wang from China discuss the
status of Conogethes populations on major crops in China with emphasis on
Wolbachia infection, genetic diversity, and gene flow. Loc and Chakravarthy have
reviewed and updated the literature on Conogethes in South Vietnam where it is a
major pest on durian, longan, rambutan, soursop, and sugar apple. Interestingly,
Conogethes is not a major problem in North Vietnam. But it is so on teak and durian
in Srilanka. Sivapragasam and others have discussed the status of Conogethes in
Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries, where it is a major pest on most of
the tropical fruits of commercial importance.
Sridhar and Darren Kriticos projected the potential areas where Conogethes can
occur and damage crops worldwide. The Conogethes moths are of a major concern
in South- and Northeast India, Coastal Australia, and in Southeast Asian countries.
The book contains four chapters on the status of Conogethes in four major parts of
India. Sandeep Singh and others have contributed a chapter on the economic and
quarantine importance of the pest in the Punjab, India. Mr. Alagar has specifically
focused on cocoa where Conogethes is an emerging pest in Karnataka, South India,
with records up to 80% fruit damage in fields. Devasahayam and coworkers have
elaborated on the damage potential of Conogethes on spice crops, viz., cardamom,
vii
viii Preface
ginger, and turmeric that are economically important. The book also covers aspects
like pest risk analysis, mass rearing methods, reproductive physiology, biological
control, host-plant relationships, pheromones, integrated pest management, and a
new species of Conogethes from South India identified as Conogethes sahyadrien-
sis sp. nov. The contributors contend that Conogethes sp. group forms an interesting
material for research in biosystematics, biogeography, evolution, adaptive strate-
gies, and management. It is in cultivated ecosystems that Conogethes sp. complex is
going to be an increasingly important pest on a wide and new range of crops.
Compilation of information on a pest species as Conogethes was a daunting task
given that only few entomologists have spent time working on the species. All the
contributors have shared valuable material that will prove useful in the future not
only for Conogethes but also for other borers.
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India A. K. Chakravarthy
Acknowledgment
I began my career working on cardamom pests at the hill research station of the
Western Ghats, Mudigere, Chikmagalur, Karnataka, South India. One of the pests I
had to research on was the cardamom borer, Conogethes species. Since 1983, these
bright yellow moths attracted my attention. Native to India, the cardamom borer
moths looked alike to the castor shoot and fruit borer, Conogethes punctiferalis.
This raised inquisitiveness in my mind. I was lucky in having the support of stal-
warts like Dr. C. A Virakthamath and late Dr. G. P. Channabasavanna, University of
Agricultural sciences, Bengaluru, and Dr. Hiroshi Honda, University of Tokyo,
Japan. They made helpful suggestions and encouraged me to work on species of
Conogethes. I sincerely thank them with gratitude. Subsequently, it came to my
knowledge that Conogethes punctiferalis is a species complex. I came across works
of other entomologists on this group of moths, like Mitsuhashi, Inoue, and
Yamanaka; Wang JB and Jing Li from China; H. T. R. Wijesekara from Sri Lanka;
and others.
This book is the result of research work carried out by workers from different
parts of the world: Richard Mally from Norway, Yang Li and coworkers from China,
H. T. Loc from Vietnam, Amani Mannakara from Srilanka, A. Sivapragasam and
coworkers from Malaysia, Hiroshi Honda from Japan, and a host of workers from
India. Dr. Darren Kriticos from Australia facilitated a chapter on global distribution
pattern of Conogethes punctiferalis with Dr. V. Sridhar. I am indebted to the many
entomologists from India who have contributed information on several aspects of
Conogethes – Chandish Ballal, N.E. Thyagaraj, S. R. Kulkarni, Sandeep Singh,
V. Sridhar, P. V. R Reddy, L. Hanumantharaya, Y. J. Tambe, P. Thiyagarajan, S. S.
Bora, K. Dhanapal, B. A. Gudade, A. B. Rema Shree, Gurlaz Kaur, M. Alagar,
V. Selvanarayanan, H. Khader Khan, S. Devasahayam, Senthil Kumar, T. K. Jacob,
A. R. N. S Subbanna, and G. Preetha. I express sincere thanks to them all.
Postgraduate students (most of them scientists now!): P. R. Shashank, Vasudev
Kammar, Gundappa, K. S. Nitin, S. Onkara Naik, G. P. Mutturaj, S. Subhash,
T.  Ambanna, M.  A. Rashmi, B.  Doddabasappa, P.  Swathi, Richa Varshney,
G. Stanley, G. C. Ankush, A. T. Rani, Kiran S. Kasareddy, P. N. Guru, Naveen
Kumar, Yatish, and others evinced a deep interest in understanding biology of
Conogethes. I owe them a great deal. I could not think of an entomologist other than
Dr. (Ms.) Alma Solis, Smithsonian Institution, USA, to have accepted to write a
foreword for this book. I remain indebted to her.
ix
x Acknowledgment
Mr. K. P. Kumar especially evinced keen interest in studying Conogethes and is
an ardent Conogethes researcher. He did Ph.D. on Conogethes and wish to lifelong
continue researching on Conogethes! He remained very helpful not only throughout
the production of this book but at all the times. He was instrumental in bringing out
for the first time a monograph on Conogethes.
I see that an increasing number of biologists are taking interest in studying
Conogethes, in the hope that the research approach adopted in studying Conogethes
may be deployed to manage pests on other crops particularly the lepidopterous
borer moths.
Last but not the least, I and other scientists owe a debt of gratitude to our pub-
lisher Springer for the deep interest and excellent support.
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India A. K. Chakravarthy