1.  Leaf webber or Chickoo moth: Nephopteryx eugraphella (Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: Major pest of sapota, occurs widely in India
Host Range: Sapota and cured tobacco

Damage symptoms

Leaves webbed together in a bunch by larvae, chlorophyll scrapped and leaves reduced to a network of veins; clusters of dried shoots; flower buds and tender fruits bored, become withered and shed.

Bionomics

The female moth lays 374 pale yellow, oval shaped eggs in groups of 2 or 3 on leaves and buds of young shoots, egg period 2-11 days. Larva is 25 cm long, slender and pinkish with a few longitudinal brown lines on dorso-lateral surface, larval period 13 to 60 days. Larvae undergo pupation in the leaf webs, pupal period is 8-9 days. Adult moth is greyish with forewings having brown or black spots and hind wing semi hyaline, 7-9 overlapping generations per year.  Maximum activity of pest is seen during June-July. Life cycle completed in 26-92 days.

Management

• Remove and destroy the infested fruits and dried clusters of leaf webs
•  Spray phasalone 35 EC  3 L or carbaryl 50 WP 3kg in  1500 – 2000 L water per ha