Biological Control of Insect Pests: Southeast Asian Prospects - EcoPort

Host plants
Damage
4.2
Anomis flava
hirsutum than on desi cotton (Sidhu and Dhawan 1979; Kalshoven 1981).
Pupation occurs in a cocoon spun between leaves. Development times have
been recorded on a number of occasions (for examples see Table 4.2.1, also
Schmitz 1968; Yu and Tu 1969), egg to adult taking about 3 weeks or a little
longer and the number of eggs laid ranging from 158 to 476, depending, in
part, upon the larval food plant. Groups of larvae normally pass through 5
moults whereas, when reared singly, up to 22% pass through 6 moults
(Kirkpatrick 1963; Essien and Odebiyi 1991). There are 5 overlapping
generations a year in Hunan Province, China, but fewer in some other
regions (Chen et al. 1991).
Adults rest in foliage by day and are active in the evening: they are
attracted to light.
A. flava is a major, but sporadic, pest of cotton. Larvae also attack many
other plants, mainly in the family Malvaceae. These include, especially, okra
( Hibiscus esculentus),
but also kenaf or Deccan hemp ( H. cannabinus),
jute
( H. sabadariffa),
bele ( H. manihot),
muskmallow an important medicinal
plant ( H. abelmoschus),
shooflower ( H. rosa-sinensis),
hollyhock ( Althaea
rosea),
Arbutilon spp., Sida spp. and Urena spp. (all Malvaceae). However
they also attack tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum:
Solanaceae); cowpea
( Vigna unguiculata)
and green gram ( Vigna radiata):
Fabaceae; sweet
potato ( Ipomoea batatas):
Convolvulaceae; as well as melon ( Citrullus
lanatus),
Macadamia,
Ricinus,
Leea and Amaranthus spp. (Kalshoven 1981;
Yein and Singh 1981; Croix and Thindwa 1986; Gatoria and Singh 1988;
Essien and Odebiyi 1991).
Okra and hemp (kenaf) were the most favoured larval food plants,
whereas cotton and okra were the most favourable in terms of pupal weight
and adult fecundity (Rao and Patel 1973).
When abundant, A. flava larvae are capable of causing serious damage by
destroying the leaves and buds of cotton and other Malvaceous crops.
A. flava belongs to the subfamily Ophiderinae of noctuids, the adults of
which are often fruit-piercing species. In southern China, A. flava is reported
to be a serious pest of citrus fruit (Li et al. 1997) and, in Korea, A. flava is one
of a group of fruit-sucking moths observed to damage grapes and pears (Lee
et al. 1970).
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