Tobacco leaf-eating caterpillar ( text from http://www.indiaagronet.com)

Tobacco leaf-eating caterpillar

Spodoptera litura F.
Family:- Noctuide
Order:- Lepidoptera

Marks of identification: - The moths are medium sized and stout bodied, with front wings pale Grey to dark brown in colour having wavy marking and whitish hind wings. The caterpillars are pale greenish-brown and smooth, with dark markings and a prothoracic plate and are about 37.5mm long when full-grown.

Nature of damage; - The caterpillars, when young, feed gregarously on tender leaves and juicy stems at become isolated at the later stages of growth.

Host plants: - Tobacco, peas, brinjal, castor, banana, agathi are the main hosts.

Life history; - Numerous eggs are laid in masses covered with brown hairs on tender leaves and they hatch in a period of four to five days. The caterpillars, which are darkish in appearance, on hatching start feeding on the soft green layers of leaves gregariously during the night, both in seedbeds and planted fields. They become pupate in rough earthen cocoons. Their pupal period lasts from nine to fourteen days and the total period of their lifecycle is 30 to 40 days.

Control measures; - Preventive measures such as collection and destruction of eggs masses and caterpillars and thorough ploughing after the harvest of the crop to expose pupae may be launched with a fair degree of effectiveness. At the early stage of infestation dusting with 10% carbayl at 20-25 kg/ha controls the pest satisfactory. When the caterpillars are about to pupate it is better to collect and destroy them on large scale.