Pomegranate Anar Butterfly
Deudorix isocrates
📖 Description
Pomegranate Anar Butterfly is the most destructive pest of pomegranate in the Indian subcontinent, causing devastating losses in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat pomegranate belts. The larva bores into the fruit through the calyx and feeds on seeds and pulp, causing premature fruit drop and rendering marketable fruits worthless. Untreated orchards can suffer 60-80% fruit loss. Fruit bagging at marble stage is the single most effective control measure and is widely adopted by Indian pomegranate growers. The pest has a wide host range including amla, guava and phalsa, which serve as reservoirs. Removing and destroying infested and fallen fruits is essential to break the life cycle. The pest is most severe during the mrig bahar (June-July flowering) crop.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Bore holes on fruit calyx with extruded excreta and pulp, fruit rotting and dropping prematurely, internal damage rendering fruit unmarketable, fruit cracking on maturity, yield loss 30-80% in untreated orchards
🩹 Treatment
- Bag fruits with paper or polythene bags (200 gauge) at marble stage, install light traps @ 2/ha, remove and destroy infested fruits, spray NSKE 5% at flowering and fruit set, apply need-based insecticide at flowering and 15 days later
🌿 Organic treatments
- Fruit bagging with paper bags at marble stage (most effective), NSKE 5% spray at flowering and 15-day intervals, neem oil 5 ml/L, Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2 g/L, collect and destroy infested and fallen fruits, install bird perches @ 10/ha
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 0.3 g/L, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.3 ml/L, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 0.5 ml/L, Novaluron 10 EC @ 1 ml/L, Quinalphos 25 EC @ 1.5 ml/L — spray at flowering + 2 sprays at 15-day intervals
🛡️ Prevention
- Fruit bagging at marble stage (most effective preventive measure), remove and destroy all infested and fallen fruits, avoid close planting, prune and burn dried branches, intercrops with non-host species, monitor with light traps, plant early-maturing varieties to escape peak infestation
🪴 Affected plants
- Pomegranate, Amla (Emblica), Guava, Citrus (occasionally), Phalsa, Jamun
🦋 Natural predators
- Trichogramma, Birds (drongo, myna, babbler), Spiders, Predatory Bugs, Lacewing Larvae
🌱 Host plants
- Punica granatum, Phyllanthus emblica, Psidium guajava, Grewia asiatica
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 50-150 eggs singly on fruit calyx or fruit stalk.
- Eggs hatch in 3-7 days.
- Larva bores into fruit and feeds for 15-25 days through 5 instars.
- Pupation inside fruit or on fruit stalk, in a silken cocoon, lasting 7-14 days.
- Adult lifespan 10-20 days.
- Total life cycle 30-50 days; 4-6 generations per year.
📅 Season
- Year-round on pomegranate, peaks during mrig bahar (Jul-Sep) and hasta bahar (Sep-Oct)
🔎 Appearance
- Adult is a beautiful tailless butterfly — male bright orange-red with brown border, female dull brown with orange patch on forewing.
- Larva is a hairless, brownish-greenish caterpillar with a velvet texture.
- Eggs are tiny, dome-shaped, laid singly on fruit calyx or stalk.
💥 Damage level
- Severe
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Rapid
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- South Asia
- Sri Lanka
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