PESTS OF RICE (BORERS AND FOLIAGE FEEDERS) :: Major Pests :: Yellow Hairy Caterpiller

10. Yellow hairy caterpillar: Psalis pennatula (Lymantriidae: Lepidoptera)
Distribution and status: Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and South India.

Host range: Rice, grasses, wheat

Damage symptoms: Caterpillar causes defoliation 

Bionomics: The caterpillar is yellowish brown with red stripes and has an orange head. Tufts of hairs are present all over the body of which two in the anterior and one in the posterior region are prominent.  It pupates in a pale white cocoon of silk and frass attached to the leaf and the adult moth is stout with straw coloured forewings.  It lays eggs in masses of upto 57 eggs on leaves.  The egg period is 10-11 days.  The larval period lasts for 25-35 days.