Brinjal Shoot & Fruit Borer
Leucinodes orbonalis
📖 Description
Brinjal Shoot & Fruit Borer (BSFB) is the most destructive pest of brinjal in the Indian subcontinent, causing 50-90% yield loss. Female moths lay eggs on tender shoots, flower buds, and young fruits. Newly hatched larvae bore into shoots causing wilting, then move to fruits where they feed internally, making the fruits unmarketable. The hidden feeding habit makes chemical control difficult, as insecticides cannot reach larvae inside fruits. Integrated pest management combining pheromone traps, biological control with Trichogramma, regular pruning, and judicious chemical use is essential. The pest is a major reason for high pesticide use on brinjal in India — often 30-40 sprays per season.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Withering and drooping of tender shoots, bore holes on fruits with frass and dried excrement, fruits with internal tunnelling, fruit rotting and dropping, severe yield loss up to 70-90%
🩹 Treatment
- Prune and destroy affected shoots and fruits weekly, install pheromone traps @ 8/ha, release Trichogramma chilonis @ 50,000/ha at flowering, apply neem oil 5ml/L, use recommended insecticides at egg-laying stage
🌿 Organic treatments
- Install pheromone traps @ 8/ha for monitoring and mass trapping, release Trichogramma chilonis @ 50,000/ha weekly at flowering, prune and destroy affected shoots and fruits, spray Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2g/L, apply neem oil 5ml/L, harvest fruits promptly to break cycle
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 0.5 g/L, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.3 ml/L, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 1 ml/L, Spinosad 45 SC @ 0.5 ml/L, Cypermethrin 10 EC @ 1 ml/L (rotate; spray at egg-laying or early larval stage)
🛡️ Prevention
- Plant resistant varieties (Pusa Purple Long, Arka Keshav), use net house cultivation to exclude adults, prune and destroy infested shoots weekly, install pheromone traps early, rotate with non-host crops, avoid continuous brinjal cultivation, intercrop with marigold or coriander, remove and destroy infested fruits
🪴 Affected plants
- Brinjal (Eggplant), Potato, Tomato, Peppers, Other Solanaceae
🦋 Natural predators
- Trichogramma chilonis, Bracon hebetor, Predatory Bugs, Spiders, Lacewings
🌱 Host plants
- Solanum melongena, Solanum tuberosum, Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum torvum
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 80-250 eggs singly on tender shoots and fruits.
- Eggs hatch in 3-5 days.
- Larvae bore into plant tissue and feed for 12-20 days, passing through 5 instars.
- Pupation occurs inside dried shoots or in soil, lasting 6-10 days.
- Adults live 5-10 days.
- Total life cycle 25-40 days; 8-10 overlapping generations per year.
📅 Season
- Year-round in tropical climates, peak during Jun-Oct monsoon and post-monsoon
🔎 Appearance
- Adults are small white moths with brownish-orange markings on the forewings and two black spots near the center.
- Larvae are pinkish-cream caterpillars with a brown head, growing up to 15 mm.
- They bore inside shoots and fruits.
💥 Damage level
- Severe
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Rapid
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Southeast Asia
- Africa
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