Pulse beetle
- 1. Assingnment on Pluse Beetles Submitted to:-Dr. Swati Mehra Submitted by:-Vishnu Kumar K2015A55BIV
- 2. Gram dhora:-Callosobruchus chinenesis Family:-Bruchidae, Order:-Coleoptera. Distribution:-India,SriLanka,Myanmar,China,Japan,Indonesia. Host range:-It is main pest of gram,mung,peas,cowpeas,lentil and arhar.
- 3. Biology:-Eggs laid singly on grains. • Fresh eggs are translucent white in color. • Larva fleshy,curved,6-7mm.long and creamy white in color with black mouth. • Pupation takes place in a pupal cell prepared beneath the seedcoat. • Adults are 3-4mm.long with oval shaped body. • Brownish grey in colour with dark spots.
- 4. Life cycle:-The pest breeds from March to November. • It hibernates in winter in larval stage. • At the end of March adult appear and copulate. • A day later female lay eggs. • Egggs hatch in7-14 days. Body is pointed towards front. Adults are short lived and it is harmless and do not feed on stored grain.
- 5. • Pupal stage lasts for 4-28 days. • The average life-span of an adult is 5-20 days. • It completes 7-8 generations in a year. • Young larvae bores into the grain and completes its development inside in 10-12 days in August and in 4-5 weeks in November.
- 7. Damage:-Damage is done by grubs only. • Damage is at peak from March to September. • Infested grain is often coverd by the traders into flour. • It could eat away the entire seed content leaving only shell.
- 8. Mung dhora:-Callosobruchus analis Family:-Bruchidae, Order:-Coleoptera. Distribution:-It has been recorded from Germany,Myanmar and India. Host range:-Mung,moth,peas,cowpeas and other pulses.
- 9. Biology:-Both adults and larvae cause damage. • Eggs are oval,whitish and glued to grain. • Larva is recognized by its creamy-white,oval-shape. • Adult is an oval-shaped beetle,smaller than Gram dhora. • Female is chocolate color with a black trapezoidal area surrounded by white streaks on three sides. • The male is uniformly chocolate with a tinge of straw.
- 10. Life cycle:-They breeds from March to December. • Hibernates in winter in the larval stage. • In first week of March, adult escape by cutting out a circular hole in the grain. • Soon after copulation takes place and eggs are laid in 72hrs.of mating. • Incubation period is changes with temperature,in May 3-6 days and in 18 days in December.
- 11. • The young larva,on emergence,bores into grains. • Larval stage is of 2-3 weeks. • Fully grown larva pupate inside the grain. • Pupal stage is of 1-2 weeks. • Life of adult varies from 5-10 days. • The insect completes 9-19 generations in a year.
- 12. Damage:-Maximum damage is done in April to August. • The larvae feed and breed inside the grain consuming entire contents. • When the infested grain happens to be in a poorly aerated receptacle,a foul smelling fungus also develops.
- 13. Management of Pulse beetle:-Exposure of grains to sunlight. • Dry grain before storage at a moisture level of 7%. • Store the pulses in bulk with 7cm.layer of sand. • Fumigation with Aluminium phosphide. • Coat grain with small quantities of vegetable oil or mix neem leaves in grain.