Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012 (India).
The ragi aphid, Hysteroneura setariae (Thomas) seriously limits the production of finger millet, Eleusine coracana Gaertn. Studies conducted on biology of ragi aphid revealed that the life cycle was completed within 7–8 days and it reproduced for 13–14 days. The rate of reproduction on an average was 2.84 to 4.55 nymphs per day. There were two moultings at an interval of 2 days and first nymph was produced within 7–8 days. Amongst the 15 genotypes of ragi screened for host preference of ragi aphid, three genotypes, viz., BR 407, Indaf-1 and PES-9 were highly preferred. Three ragi genotypes, viz., HR-154, PES-176 and JNR-852 were found least preferred by ragi aphid.
