Annals of Plant Protection Sciences

The level of incidence and number of generations of Earias vittella varied between seasons, being four during 2002 and six during 2003. However, the peak incidence and damage during both the years coincided with second flush of fruiting structures between mid October and November. Instar wise cumulative distributions indicated declining survival with increasing larval age during both the seasons with the highest mortality of first and second instars. Feeding preference coefficients (FPC) indicated maximum preference for squares by the first two larval instars followed by green bolls and flowers. The highest attack coinciding with boll developmental phase of second flush fruiting structures as well as with the crop of maximum canopy warrants protection of formed bolls using an effective insecticide through a better insecticidal application technology. This also points to the need for evolving boll retention based economic threshold levels (ETLs) for E. vittella management.