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Spatio-temporal distribution of sugarcane shoot borer, Chilo infuscatellus (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and its associated natural enemy Sturmiopsis inferens (Diptera:Tachinidae) in India

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Abstract

Early shoot borer or shoot borer Chilo infuscatellus Snellen (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a major pest of sugarcane in many countries, targets the plant in early stage leading to the death of shoots and consequently yield reduction. The present study aimed at characterizing the seasonal variation and predicting the distribution of C. infuscatellus and its parasitoid Sturmiopsis inferens Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) in Salem, Tamil Nadu State, India. Field surveys were conducted at monthly interval in nine sugarcane farms for two consecutive years (2015 & 2016) to assess seasonal variation of C. infuscatellus. Light traps were used to assess the abundance of S. inferens. The relationship between climatic variables and population density of C. infuscatellus and S. inferens was determined. The GIS maps using Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation technique. While C. infuscatellus was active in sugarcane farms throughout the growing period with peak population between May and June, S. inferens was higher during February. GIS maps showed the highest populations of C. infuscatellus (≈ 500 insects/acre/year) in western and southern parts of Salem district and the high parasitoid population was seen in Mettur, Idappadi, Sankagiri, Salem and Omalur taluks, with a density of ≈ 400 parasitoids/acre/year in both the years. Our results will help to understand the distribution/abundance of C. infuscatellus and S. inferens, and contribute to develop management strategies.

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Data availability

The data and materials used during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely acknowledge and thank Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, for providing all the required facilities in relation to this research work.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Periyar University, 636011, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India

    Kokila Ranganathan, Meenambigai Krishnan & Nareshkumar Arjunan

  2. Department of Statistics, School of Mathematics, Periyar University, 636011, Salem, India

    Alagirisamy Kuppusamy

  3. Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gezira, P. O. Box 20, Wad Medani, Sudan

    Abdelmutalab G. A. Azrag

  4. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P. O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Abdelmutalab G. A. Azrag

  5. Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, 641007, Coimbatore, India

    Srikanth Jandhyala

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  1. Kokila Ranganathan
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Contributions

Nareshkumar Arjunan contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Kokila Ranganathan, Meenambigai Krishnan and Nareshkumar Arjunan. Statistics and modeling were performed by Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, J. Srikanth, Alagirisamy Kuppusamy and Nareshkumar Arjunan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kokila Ranganathan and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Nareshkumar Arjunan.

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Ranganathan, K., Krishnan, M., Kuppusamy, A. et al. Spatio-temporal distribution of sugarcane shoot borer, Chilo infuscatellus (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and its associated natural enemy Sturmiopsis inferens (Diptera:Tachinidae) in India. Int J Trop Insect Sci 43, 277–287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00940-1

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