Trap catches and seasonal incidence of Spodoptera litura on cauliflower and tomato

The adult abundance of Spodoptera litura in pheromone traps was recorded during 19^th standard week which continued up to 43^rd standard week, exhibiting three ‘V’ shaped oscillations during the period. Thereafter, a sharp decline was noticed and population ceased completely from 49^th standard week onwards up to 5^th standard week. Peak larval population on tomato was noticed in 25^th standard week whereas, in cauliflower the larval population attained its peak during 43^rd standard week (43 larvae/10 plants). The weather parameters were correlated with insect pest incidence and was found that the number of moths/trap/week exhibited significant positive correlation with maximum (r = 0.813) and minimum (r = 0.805) temperatures. The combined influence of the weather parameters strongly influenced the population build up of the pest with the coefficient of determination, R² values of 0.75 (moth catch), 0.82 (larval population on tomato) and 0.72 (larval population) on cauliflower.