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Brinjal Shoot and Fruit BorerScientific name: Leucinodes orbonalisFamily: PyralidaeOrder: Lepidoptera

Pest status and host range:Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is the second most important vegetable crop grown inBangladesh. Brinjal is cultivated throughout the year but farmers intensively grow it in thewinter season. This crop is attacked by a number of insect pests. Of them brinjal (eggplant)shoot and fruit borer is considered to be the most destructive pest. It can also infest potato andother solanacaeous crops and their wild relatives.

Life History/Biology:Adult: The adults are medium sized moths with white or dirty white with pale brown or black

spots on the dorsum of thorax and abdomen. The moth is Wings are white with a pink or blue tinge, and have pink or brown and red

spots on the forewings The female is bigger than male, tends to curl its abdomen upwards.

Egg:The adult females lay around 250 eggs singly or in groups of two to five on the undersurfaces of leaves, tender shoots, flower buds, or the base of developing fruits. The incubationperiod is 3-5 days.

Larva:The newly hatched larvae are about 1.5mm long and dull white in colour whereas the full-grown caterpillars are 15-18mm long, light pink in colour. Larval period lasts for 12-15 daysin summer and 14-22 days in winter.

Pupa:The full-grown larvae come out of the infested shoots and fruits for pupation in the driedshoots and leaves or in plant debris fallen on the ground.The pupal period:7-8 days insummer and 13-15 days in winter. The insect completes its life cycle in 34-59 days duringwinter with 5 or more overlapping generations in a year.

Seasonal abundance:The insect is active through out the year with more activity during the summer and rainyseason than in the winter months.

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Destructive stage: only Larva(caterpillar)

Nature of damage:The larval stage is the only destructive stage. The insect starts infesting brinjal from its veryyoung stage and continues up to the last day of the crops life.

In the vegetative phase of the plant, the larvae bore into the young shoots, petioles andmidribs of the large leaves and feed on the internal tissues from within the attacked plant part.The infested shoots droop down and subsequently wither.

In the reproductive phase when the plants start bearing flower and fruits, the larvae boreinto the flower buds and fruits. The infested flower buds drop and fruits show the sign ofinfestation from the oozed out frass of the larvae through the holes made on the fruit by thelarvae prior to their jumping out of the fruits upon attaining maturity. The larvae while feedingon the internal soft tissues of the fruit often make tunnels inside the fruit and make the fruitunfit for consumption.

Fig: Wilted shoot of eggplant damaged by BSFB larvae Fig: Dried shoot of eggplant damaged by BSFB larvae

Fig: BSFB larvae feeding damage on eggplant fruit Fig: BSFB larvae feeding tunnels filled with excretaManagementAny single method of pest management alone will not achieve a level of EFSB controlacceptable to producers. A simple and economic IPM technique can provide satisfactory control. Ratooning brinjal crop should be avoided and uprooting and burning of the old plants

well before planting the new crop. Removal and destruction of all infested shoots and fruits with borer larvae inside during

the vegetative and reproductive phase of the plant. Collection and destruction of all fallen dry leaves and other plant debris from the ground

where the pest larvae pupate. The use of effective BFSB sex pheromone lures (E-11-hexadecenyl acetate) in traps at

the rate of 100 traps per hectare. The traps should be placed either at canopy level or atslightly above the canopy level for effective attraction.

Cypermethrin 10EC @ 1ml/L or Carbosulfan 20EC@ 2ml/L of water should be applied asfoliar spray. Spraying should be repeated at an interval of 7-14 days where necessary.Insecticides of same group should not be used repeatedly in order to avoid developmentof pesticide resistance and appearance of secondary pests outbreak.