PESTS OF AMARANTHUS :: MINOR PESTS :: LEAF WEBBER

1. Leaf webber: Eretmocera impactella (Heliodinidae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: Sporadic pest. Widely distributed in the Indian sub-continent.
Damage symptoms: Caterpillars web leaves with white silken threads and remain hidden in folds feeding from inside.
Bionomics
Eggs are laid on leaves or on top shoots. Full-grown caterpillars are cylindrical, brownish-yellow to brownish-grey in colour with a broad sub median dark stripe and black tubercles bearing several divergent longitudinal hairs. Long brown pupae in white silken cocoons remain attached to leaves. Moths are small, blackish with prominent yellow spots on fore wings. Life cycle is completed in 3 to 4 weeks.

Eretmocera impactella