MANGO
Mango hoppers Idioscopus clypealis, I. niveosparsus, Amritodes atkinsoni (Cicadellidae: Hemiptera)
- Hoppers are the most destructive pests of mango. Hoppers are active throughout the year, but abundant during hot months of May to June and cold months of October to January, synchronizing with flowering of mango trees. When inflorescence appears, hoppers start laying eggs in them.
- Injury to the inflorescence and young shoots is caused by both egg laying and feeding. Oviposition injury on inflorescence stalk causes oozing of fluid.
- Adults and nymphs suck the sap from the inflorescence and tender shoots, and cause withering and shedding of flower buds and flowers, resulting in heavy yield loss (25 to 60 %) due to poor fruit setting.
- Brown scar develops initially on the inflorescence stalk and rachis, which shows gradual drying.
- Honeydew excreted by them favours development of sooty mould on the leaves, panicles and fruits.
- Female inserts eggs singly into flower buds and inflorescence stalk. It deposits on an average 200 eggs.
- Nymphs become full-grown in 8 to 13 days. The full-fed nymphs moult and give rise to winged adults. During a flowering season, two or more broods of the pest may occur. They occur in small numbers inside barks or on leaves of mango during non-flowering period.
| Species | Colour and Size | No. of spots on scutellum | Other characters |
| Idioscopus niveosparsus | Slight brownish and smaller | 3 | Prominent white band across light brown wings |
| Idioscopus clypealis | Light brown and the smallest | 2 | Dark spots on vertex |
| Amritodus atkinsoni | Light brown and the biggest | 2 | Lack in central longitudinal dark streak on scutellum |
Flower webber Eublemma versicolor (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
The flowers in the inflorescence are webbed together by larvae, which remain inside the silk lined gallery and feed. They also bore into the inflorescence stalk.
Female moth has purplish grey wings and male has purplish pink or light orange wings with an apical patch. Full-grown larva is smooth, greenish yellow with light brown head.It pupates inside or near the base of the inflorescence.
Gall midges Procystiphora mangiferae, Dasineura amaramanjarae,
Erosomyia mangiferae (Cecidomyiidae: Diptera)
- Adult flies insert eggs into unopened flower buds.
- Maggots feed inside buds and the buds fail to open and drop down.
- Midges damage inflorescence and cause heavy yield loss.
- Inflorescence becomes stunted, malformed and the buds do not open.
- Maggots hibernate in the soil and thus the carry-over of the pest to the next year is accomplished. Pupate in soil.
- Adult fly is yellowish orange coloured
Mango fruit fly or Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Tephritidae: Diptera)
- It is the most serious of all fruit flies and is widely distributed in India and South-East Asia. It attacks about 15 host plants such as mango, guava, peach, apricot, cherry, pear, sapota, ber, citrus, etc.
- This pest is active during the summer months and passes the winter as a hibernating pupa in the soil.
- Adult flies emerge in April and survive on fruits and vegetables of the season, such as guava, loquat, apricot, plum, brinjal, chillies, etc. Later on, they shift to mango.
- Adults lay eggs in clusters, 1- 4 mm deep in the soft skin of fruit, with the help of sharp ovipositors.
- As maggots develop, they pass through three instars in the ripening pulp and are full-grown in 6 – 29 days.
- They leave fruit and move away by jumping in little hops.
- On reaching a suitable place, they burry themselves into soil and pupate.
- Flies are active all through the year.
- Both adults and maggots attack semi-ripe fruits. Oviposition punctures on fruits serve as entry to saprophytic micro organisms. On the oviposition site, gummy exudations appear on fruits.
- Maggots destroy and convert pulp into a bad smelling, discoloured semi-liquid mass unfit for consumption. Fruits begin to rot and drop down.
Nut or stone weevil Sternochetus mangiferae (Curculionidae: Coleoptera)
- This is a monophagous pest. It is a short stoutly built, dark-brown weevil found inside the stone of fruit or in its pulp.
- Females lay eggs singly in the pericarp of 40 days old or marble sized fruits by scooping out fruit surface. The wound caused by ovipositor heals soon after, and fruit does not exhibit any external sign of infestation.
- On emergence, grub makes zigzag tunnels in pulp, eats unripe tissue until it bores into cotyledons of stone.
- When full-grown, larva forms a cell inside the stone and pupates.
- Adult also damages pulp while emergence and exit out of fruit.
- The emerging adults become inactive and resume breeding only in the next season. They hibernate on barks and near by plants. Thus, there is only a single generation in one year.
- Infestation hastens ripening and causes fruit fall.
Mango stem borer Batocera rufomaculata, B. rubus (Cerambycidae: Coleoptera)
- Gummy exudation and masses of frass exuding from bore holes on trunks are seen. Shedding of leaves and drying of branches are other associated symptoms.
- Alternate hosts are fig, rubber, jack, eucalyptus, kapok, moringa, etc.
- They deposit eggs under the loose bark in a wounded of the trunk or a branch.
- Grubs are equipped with strong biting mouthparts and they penetrate into the stem or even the roots, by feeding on woody tissues.
- Grubs cause damage, by killing a branch or the entire tree. Pupates in side the tree.
- Larval stage lasts more than a year and the pupal stage lasts about one month. Life cycle may be completed in 1-2 years.
- Full-grown larva is a stout, yellowish or white, fleshy grub, measuring about 6 cm in length. Its head is dark with strongly developed mandibles.
- Adults are longicorn beetles, large and measuring about 5 cm in length and 2 cm in breadth. A number of dirty yellowish spots are present on the elytra, pronotum is with two crescent orange-yellow spot and lateral spines.
Bark caterpillar Indarbela tetraonis (Metarbelidae: Lepidoptera)
- It also feeds on citrus, neem guava, jamun, loquat, mulberry, pomegranate, drumstick, litchi, aonla, rose and a number of forest and ornamental trees.
- Freshly hatched larvae are dirty brown while full-grown caterpillars are dark brown in colour.
- Adults are pale brown moths with numerous dark rufous bands on the wings.
- Females lay eggs under loose bark of the trees. Freshly hatched larvae nibble at the bark and after 2–3 days bore inside. Larvae make webs along feeding galleries. Galleries and webs have frass and excreta. pupate inside.
- A severe infestation results in the death of attacked stem but not of the main trunk.
Mango Shoot webber Orthaga exvinacea (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
- It is commonly found in South India. Insect is active from February to October. Larvae web up tender leaves into clusters and feed within at the time of new flush emergence.
- Leaves wither and dry up. Medium sized moth is greyish with brownish wings and has wavy lines on fore wings.
- Pale greenish caterpillar with brown head and prothoracic shield, scrapes leaf surface and pupates in leaf web.
Mango shoot webber Clumetia transversa (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
- This is a serious pest in mango nurseries. Caterpillar bores into the tender shoot from top, moves downward and makes tunneling to a depth of 5-6 inches.
- The damage results in stunting of whole seedlings with individual twigs showing a terminal bunch appearance.
- Adult is a greyish moth with dark grey wing having waxy markings.
- Larva is dark pinkish with dark brown pro-thoracic shield which pupates in soil.
Leaf weevil or mining weevil Rhynchaenus mangiferae (Curculionidae: Coleoptera)
- Grubs of a small brown weevil with stout hind legs mine into tender leaves and cause crinkling of leaves.
- The insect is active during April to June.
- It lays eggs in the midribs of leaves. Life cycle from egg to adult occupies about 12 days.
Leaf caterpillar Bombotelia jocosatrix (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
- Larva is smooth with pink spots on the body. It feeds on tender leaves during March to June. Pupation takes place in soil. Adult moth is dark brown with lower half of hind wings white.
Red tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina (Formicidae: Hymenoptera)
- They construct nest by webbing together the leaves. If disturbed, they bite and cause annoyance during harvest.
Giant mealy bug Drosicha mangiferae (Margarodidae: Hemiptera)
- Besides mango, it attacks 62 other crops, including jack fruit, banyan, guava, papaya, citrus and jamun.
- Nymphs and adult females crowd in thick clusters on terminal shoots, branches and fruits and suck plant juice, causing tender shoots and flowers to dry up. Young fruits become juiceless and drop off. During severe attack, trees retain no fruit at all.
- Nymphs and wingless females are oval, flattened, and body is covered with a white mealy powder.
- This pest is active from December to May and spends rest of the year in egg stage.
Bud mite Aceria mangiferae (Eriophyidae: Acarina)
- It is associated with the malformation disease of mango. The mite sucks the sap from internal and auxiliary buds resulting in the stoppage of their growth and development of close lateral buds, resulting in the buds becoming crowded and malformed and necrosis of tender tissues.
Reddish brown aphid, Toxoptera odinae (Aphididae: Hemiptera) infests inflorescence in colonies and causes shedding of flowers in cases of severe attack.
Whitefly, Aleurocanthus mangiferae (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera) is found in large number on the undersurface of leaves.
White scale Chionaspis vitis (Diaspididae: Hemiptera) and guava scale Chloropulvinaria psidii (Coccidae: Hemiptera) infest leaves and turning them yellow and dry.
Leaf caterpillars, Parasa lepida (Cochlidiidae: Lepidoptera) feed on leaves and Euproctis fraterna and Porthesia scintillans (Lymantriidae: Lepidoptera) feed on flowers.
Fruit borer Hyalospila leuconeurella (Phycitidae: Lepidoptera): Larvae bore into developing fruit.
Leaf miner Acrocercops syngramma (Gracillariidae: Lepidoptera) infests tender leaves and produces blister like patches.
Leaf twisting weevil Apoderus tranquebaricus (Curculionidae: Coleoptera). Grubs develop inside twisted part of leaf, which rolled up and dried.
Mango leaf cutting weevil, Deporaus marginatus (Curculionidae: Coleoptera). During new flush formation, small, shiny brown adults cut tender buds, twigs and new flushes and eat. Cut pieces of tender twigs and leaf bits are seen littered beneath tree. Eggs, grubs and pupae are found in soil. Young saplings are more vulnerable
