1. Module II: Economically Important Insect Pests
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
Lesson 3: Gram Pod Borer
About Gram Pod Borer
The moths have dull brown forewings.
A single female moth can lay up to 2000 small eggs. Single cream colored eggs are laid on young leaves and flowers.
Course on Insect Pests of Groundnut

2. About Gram Pod Borer
Most larvae are dark greenish brown, but they can also be pink, cream, or almost black.
Larvae are easy to find on the foliage as they do not hide during day time in the soil unlike tobacco caterpillars.

3. Crop Damage
The larvae damage the foliage similar to tobacco and hairy caterpillars but it prefers to feed on flowers and buds.

4. Crop Damage
Young larvae enter leaf bud by making a pin-hole. These pin-holes form mirror images on the expanded leaf.
25% leaf damage during the first 5o days of the crop or presence of more than one larva per plant are considered as economic threshold levels.

5. Management
Crop rotation with sorghum, maize, pearl millet and sugarcane minimizes the infestation.
Grow sunflower as border or intercrop in groundnut fields to serve as indicator or trap crop.
Defoliated sunflower by Gram Pod Borer in groundnut crop

6. Management
If defoliation exceeds 25%, or if one or more larva per plant are found during the first 50 days after seedling emergence, then apply Endosulfan at 350 mL a.i./ha, Monocrotophos at 300 mL a.i./ha, or Fenvalerate at 100 mL a.i./ha or Indoxacarb 50 ML a.i./ha or Spinosad 75 ML a.i./ha.

7. Management
Large larvae may not be killed by insecticides. Crop monitoring is advisable.
Monitor the emergence of adult moths by setting up pheromone traps (2 per ha or 2 to 4 per village).
Note that the crop can withstand considerable levels of defoliation after the seeds start developing in the pod without significant reductions in crop yield.

8. Management
There are a number of ancillary control measures such as monitoring by pheromone traps, encouraging predators like spiders, and installing bird perches (10/ha).
Application of nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) at 250 LE (larval equivalents)/ha.

9. Module II: Economically Important Insect Pests
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
The Lesson 3 on Gram Pod Borer concludes.
The Lesson 4 is about Groundnut Leaf Miner that affects groundnut crop.
The subsequent Lessons describe other economically important insect pests in groundnut crop.
Select Lesson 4 in Module II from Course contents
Course on Insect Pests of Groundnut