Establishing pest status of leaf eating caterpillar, Condica capensis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on safflower alongwith its natural enemies, biology and management in Karnataka

In the present paper, the pest status of safflower leaf eating caterpillar, Condica capensis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), its natural enemies, biology and management on safflower are provided. In all the surveyed locations, the C. capensis population was more during December and occurs at early vegetative stage of the crop. Also, four species of spiders and five species of hymenopterans were found feeding and parasitizing, respectively on C. capensis. The studies on the biology and morphometrics of C. capensis provided the basic information about the biology and external morphology of this pest. Among six biorational insecticides tested, indoxacarb 15 EC and chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC were observed to be significantly reduced the larval population of C. capensis.