Groundnut Bihar Hairy Caterpillar

It is a major pest of sunflower. It is a polyphagous pest attacking sunflower, castor, cotton, greengram, bengalgram, maize and sunhemp.

Appearance:

Larva crimson colored with black head with broad transverse band and tufts of yellow hairs that are dark at both ends. Pupa forms a thin silken   cocoon by interwoven shed hairs of the larvae.   

    Spilosoma (Diacrisia) obliqua

         Arctiidae: Lepidoptera

     Kannada Name: Kambali hulu

Life cycle:

Female lays around 50-100 eggs on lower surface of the leaves. Pupation takes place under dry debris, foliage and soil

Nature of damage:

Young larvae feed gregariously on the under surface of the leaves. Early instars  skelatonise the leaves gregariously. Feed on leaves and cause loss by way of defoliation.

Damage symptoms:

• Leaf Skeletonisation.
• Defoliation leaving only stem and petioles.
• Similar to Red headed hairy caterpillar, goat or cattle grazed appearance is seen.
• In severe cases, only stems are left behind.