Use of Pheromone Lures for the Management of Red hairy Caterpillar Amsacta Albistriga in Rainfed Groundnut

Red hairy caterpillar (Amsacta albistriga) is a major pest in kharif groundnut causing 25-100 per cent damage in endemic villages in Chittoor and YSR Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh. Pheromone lures, which is a novel pest control method, were not available for this pest till 2016. The Department of Entomology, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tirupati under Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur in collaboration with CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad developed pheromone lures and these lures were tested by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kalikiri in endemic villages of the pest during kharif, 2018 and kharif, 2019. Field evaluation during kharif, 2018 revealed that silica septa lure was effective over plastic septa lure in attracting male moths of Red hairy caterpillar. Silica septa lures were evaluated against solar light traps during kharif, 2019. Pheromone traps were superior over solar light trap which attracted more number of male moths. During kharif, 2018 adult catches were high during 1^st week of August and 1^st week of September whereas during kharif, 2019 catches were high during the last week of July, 2019 and thereafter, catches gradually declined. Larval population reached economic threshold level during kharif, 2019 and poison bait was applied to manage the pest.