Biology and management of the ginger shoot borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

AbstractA study on the biology of the ginger shoot borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenee, conducted during 2024 at the College of Agriculture, Shivamogga, Karnataka, showed that the incubation, larval, pre-pupal and pupal periods were 3.72 ± 0.25, 21.25 ± 1.76, 2.90 ± 0.20 and 7.75 ± 0.29 days, respectively. On ginger, the mean pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods lasted 3.00 ± 0.50, 2.40 ± 0.22 and 2.60 ± 0.22 days, respectively. A female laid an average of 45.00 ± 8.12 eggs. Adult longevity of male and female moths was 7.20 ± 0.27 and 7.90 ± 0.65 days, respectively. The total life cycle on ginger was 42.50 ± 3.53 days for males and 43.50 ± 4.24 days for females. In the bio-efficacy trial against the ginger shoot borer, spinetoram 11.7 % SC @100 ml/acre was the most effective insecticide, reducing damage by 60.61 per cent over the untreated control and recording the lowest mean damage across both sprays. Lambda-cyhalothrin 5 % EC @ 80 ml/acre offered better sustained control, whereas cartap hydrochloride 4 % G @ 10,000 g/acre, chlorantraniliprole 0.4 % G @ 4,000 g/acre, imidacloprid 70 % WG @ 400 g/acre and azadirachtin 1 % EC @ 400 ml/acre were moderately effective in managing the ginger shoot borer.