Pests of wheat

and
Pests of barley
Wheat Aphid: Macrosiphum miscanthi
Order:Hemiptera
Family:Aphididae
Distribution: India
Host: Wheat, barley, oats, Cynodon dactylon
• Symptoms: Soft bodied insects seen clinged on plants

MANAGEMENT
The spray of imidacloprid @ 20 g a.i. per ha initially
on border rows and if infestation is severe then in
entire field gives good protection against this pest.

Generally, natural enemies present in the field help

in controlling the population of this pest.
Pink borer- Sesamia inferens
Order: Lepidoptera

Family : Noctuidae

 Other hosts: Maize,

Fingermillet, Sorghum
Symptoms of damage

typical ‘pin hole’ symptom. Bored holes are

plugged with excreta.

dead heart- The central shoot turns brownish

and dries out.
Bionomics
• Larva: Pinkish brown, smooth
and cylindrical with reddish
brown head. Laval period is 22
days.
• Egg: Creamy white spherical
shape eggs laid in clusters in
the leaves and stem of the
plant. Incubation period is 8
days
• Pupa: Dark brown with purple
tinge in head. Pupate inside the
stem. Pupation period is 8 days
• Adult: medium sized, pale
yellow brown moths. Fore
wings are light brown with two
black spots. Hind wings are
white with light yellow scales
along the major veins
 Management
• Application of optimal rate of nitrogeneous fertilizer in split
doses
• Spray Methyl Parathion 50EC 1ml/lit or Phosphomidan
85WSC 0.5ml/lit or Dimethoate 30EC 1.7ml/lit
• Spray Carbaryl 50WP 1Kg/ha
 Armyworm: Mythimna separata
• Order: Lepidoptera

• Family: Noctuidae

• Distribution: India,Pakistan, China, Korea, Japan, Southeast

Asia, Australia, Sri lanka,Burma,New Zealand .

• Host:Wheat, sugarcane, maize, jowar, bajra, oats, barley, rye,

pea and tobacco
 Eggs are laid in cluster, consisting of approximately 500 eggs.

 The young caterpillars hatch from the eggs in 4-5 days.

 The caterpillars are fully grown in about 15 days and measures 3-5
cm in length.

 After attainment of full size the larva pupates inside the soil and
remains in this condition for about 15 days.

 The life cycle is completed in about 30-35 days which is repeated

several times each year.
 Damage symptoms
• Clipped heads from armyworm feeding

• Early instar larvae skeletonise the leaves

whereas later instar larvae are voracious feeders
on leaves during night.

Wheat kernels damaged by wheat head armyworm

 Control Methods
• Cultural Method:

1. Crop rotation

2. Deep ploughing of field

3. If the infestation is lesser in magnitude, the infected seedlings should be uprooted and destroyed.

Chemical Method:

1. The infection by this pest can be controlled effectively by spraying Fenitrothion, Carbaryl and Chlorfenvinphos.

2. First irrigation of the crop should be done by mixing insecticides.

Biological Method:

1. Introduction of Apanteles ruficrus, Sarcophaga orientaloides and Exorista fallax is quite helpful in controlling the

destruction caused by the caterpillars since, these insects parasitise the caterpillars.

2. Sparrows and crows act as predators of this pest.

Cutworm- Spodoptera exigua
• Order: Lepidoptera

• Family:Noctuidae

• Apart from finger millet it also infests

crops such as onion, brinjal, cotton,
cowpea, chillies, safflower, daincha
and castor and feed on leaves.
Eggs: Lays clusters of pearly white and round
eggs on the lower portion of young plants

Larva: Stout, soft bodied, brownish green

larvae with wavy lines on dorsal surface and
yellow stripe laterally. Larva period is 10-16 days

Pupa: pupate in the soil in Earthern cocoons.

Pupal period is 7-11 days

Adult: brownish moth with white hind wings.

• Symptoms: The young cutworm feeds on plant
without cutting off the stems or leaves. Later it begins
to cut off foliage.

• It scraps the green matter of the leaf tissue and the

leaves shows as skeletonized appearance

• The larvae feed on the leaves especially in the

nursery.

• Management: Spray Carbaryl 50WP @ 2.5Kg/ha,

Chlorpyriphos 20EC@2lit/ha,Phasolone35 EC@1.25
lit/ha
 Termites: Microtermes obesi
• Order: Isoptera
• Family:Termitidae
Damage symptoms
Termites damage the wheat crop soon after sowing and near maturity.
The damaged plants dry up completely and are easily pulled out.
The plants damaged at later stages give rise to white ears.
Management
Treat the seed @ 4 ml of chlorpyriphos 20 EC
Gram Pod Borer: Helicoverpa armigera

• Order:Lepidoptera

• Family:Noctuidae

• Colour: Green Larvae or Green

Brown Larvae

• Part affected is Ear Head.

Symptom
• Larvae can be seen feeding on the grains

• Management
Dust the crop with Chlorpyriphos1.5% or carbaryl 5%
@ 20-25kg/ha, when the pest attack starts.
Ghujhia Weevil: Tanymecus indicus
Order: Coleoptera , Family: Curculionidae
Distribution :Widely distributed in Indian sub-continent.
(sporadic pest in wheat growing areas)
Host: Germinating Rabi crops viz.,Wheat, barley, gram and
mustard
• DAMAGE
• The damage is caused by the adult weevils only .
• They cut the germinating seedlings at the ground level and
often,the crop has to be resown.
• The damage is particularly serious during October-November,
when the rabi crops are germinating.
Management
• Dust 1.3% lindane dust& 25-30 kg/ha before sowing.
• Bionomics: Weevils emerging in
June mature sexually in October.
They mate frequently and lay 6-76
eggs in 5-11 installments in the soil
under clods or in crevices in the
ground.
The egg period is 6-7 weeks

• Young grubs enter the soil.

• Grub period is 10-18 days and

pupate in earthen chambers at a
depth of 15-60 cm.

• The pupal stage lasts 7-9 weeks,

and the adults emerge next year in
June or July.

• The pest has only one generation

in a year.
Grasshopper(Hieroglyphus banian)
• Order:Orthoptera
• Family:Acrididae

• Feed on new plants in fall, or leaves,

heads and awns in spring.
• May clip heads in spring or destroy
outer margins of field in fall
Symptom
• Insects can be seen jumping in the field.
• The leaves of the plant appear chewed.

Management
• Raking of field bunds during summer to destroy the egg pods
is an extremely important for grasshopper management
• Dust carbaryl 5% or malathion 5%@25 kg per ha
Brown Wheat Mite: Petrobia latens (non-insect pest)
• O:Arachnida, F: Tetranychida
• Hosts: Wheat
• Distribution :Rajasthan, Haryana
Bionomics
• Brown wheat mites can complete a life cycle in
as little as 10-14 days.
• Like greenbugs, newly hatched brown wheat
mites are all females.
• They will produce up to 3 generations each year.
• Numbers will likely decline if a hard, driving rain
occurs.
• Spring populations begin to decline in mid-late
April when females begin to lay “diapause”
eggs.
Symptom
• Small spots on the affected parts.

• Infestation starts from lower leaves and progress upwards. Yellowing of

leaves.
• They Brown wheat cause damage through mite infestation sucking mouth
parts.

• When present in large numbers, mites cause a silvery flecking on leaves.

• Individual mites are too small to be visible with naked eye without 'effort.

• These can be seen by shaking the infested leaves on a white paper.

• It occurs during second fortnight of January till crop maturity.

Management

Seed treatment with thiomethoxam @ 2-30 g/kg .

Foliar sprays of phsophamidon, oxydemeton methyl @ 250, 160 and 200 a.i./ha, respectively.
Cereal cyst nematode: Heterodera avenae
O: Tylenchida
F: Heteroderidae

Wheat seed gall disease

Queries ????
Life stage of a lepidopteran-
Holometamorphic