Spotted Bollworm of Cotton
Earias vittella
📖 Description
Spotted Bollworm (Earias vittella and related species E. insulana) is a major pest of cotton and okra across the Indian subcontinent. Adult moths lay eggs on tender shoots, squares, and bolls. Newly hatched larvae bore into shoots, causing them to wilt and droop, or directly into squares and bolls, where they feed internally on lint and seeds. The damage pattern differs from Pink Bollworm — Spotted Bollworm attacks both shoots and bolls, while Pink Bollworm specializes on bolls. Both pests can coexist in the same field, requiring similar management. The pest has 4-6 generations per cotton season, with overlapping generations creating continuous pressure throughout the cropping period.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Withering and drooping of tender shoots (shoot boring)
- bore holes on squares and bolls
- damaged squares that drop off
- stained lint
- premature boll opening
- stunted plants in heavy infestation
- yield loss 30-60%
🩹 Treatment
- Install pheromone traps @ 8/ha for monitoring
- release Trichogramma chilonis @ 50
- 000/ha
- apply neem oil 5ml/L
- use recommended insecticides at egg-laying stage
- prune and destroy infested shoots
🌿 Organic treatments
- Install pheromone traps @ 8/ha
- release Trichogramma chilonis @ 50
- 000/ha weekly
- spray Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2 g/L
- apply neem oil 5 ml/L
- prune and destroy infested shoots
- apply 5% NSKE
- grow marigold as trap crop
🧪 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
- Lambda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 1 ml/L (spray at egg-laying stage)
🛡️ Prevention
- Plant early-maturing varieties
- prune and destroy infested shoots weekly
- install pheromone traps early
- avoid excessive nitrogen
- harvest promptly at maturity
- destroy crop residues after harvest
- intercrop with legumes
- conserve predatory bugs and spiders
🪴 Affected plants
- Cotton
- Okra (Bhendi)
- Hollyhock
- Some Malvaceae
🦋 Natural predators
- Trichogramma chilonis
- Chrysoperla carnea
- Reduviid Bugs
- Spiders
- Birds
🌱 Host plants
- Gossypium spp.
- Abelmoschus esculentus
- Althaea rosea
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 200-400 eggs singly on tender shoots, squares, and bolls.
- Eggs hatch in 3-5 days.
- Larvae bore into plant tissue and feed for 12-20 days, passing through 5-6 instars.
- Pupation occurs inside the plant or in soil, lasting 7-12 days.
- Adults live 7-15 days.
- Total life cycle 25-40 days; 4-6 generations per year.
📅 Season
- Active Aug-Jan on cotton, peaks Sep-Nov during squaring and boll formation
🔎 Appearance
- Adults are small greenish-yellow moths with distinctive dark spots and streaks on the forewings.
- Larvae are brownish with white longitudinal stripes and numerous black spots, growing up to 18 mm.
- They bore inside cotton shoots and bolls.
💥 Damage level
- High
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Fast
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Africa
- Southeast Asia
- Middle East
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