New record of insect pests attacking Butea monosperma – A commercial host for culturing lac insect, Kerria lacca (Kerr)

Butea monosperma is one of the major commercial lac hosts for raising rangeeni strain of Indian lac insect, Kerria lacca (Kerr). In changing climatic scenario, pest complex in lac production system is also changing. Comprehensive and intensive lac host plant surveillance and field collections of insect pests from commercial lac host, Butea monosperma (palas), the flame of forest trees carried out during last five years reveal the occurrence of some new pests. Scale insects namely Aulacaspis sp., (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) and Pseudaulacaspis cockerelli (Cooley) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), sweet potato bug, Physomerus grossipes Fabricius (Hemiptera: Coreidae) as well as curculionids viz., Myllocerus discolor Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); Amblyrrhinus poricollis Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Peltotrachelus sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) were recorded for the first time from India on Butea monosperma. Interestingly some insect pests reported as minor and sporadic by earlier workers have been replaced by another species and its occurrence noticed regularly as in case of curculionids attacking commercial lac hosts. In recent past, it has been observed that those species which were not recognized as economically important have now become major pests and vice-versa. Considerable variations in their period of occurrence and activity have also been noticed.