Sugarcane Pyrilla
Pyrilla perpusilla
📖 Description
Sugarcane Pyrilla is the most destructive sap-sucking pest of sugarcane in the Indian subcontinent, causing annual losses of 10-30% in endemic zones of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Maharashtra. Outbreaks are triggered by high humidity, dense crop canopy, excessive nitrogen, and continuous ratooning. Beyond direct sap loss, Pyrilla honeydew promotes sooty mold that reduces photosynthesis, and the pest vectors sugarcane grassy shoot phytoplasma. Biological control with Tetrastichus pyrillae egg parasitoid and Epipyrops nymphal parasitoid gives excellent suppression when broad-spectrum insecticides are avoided — these have been used in large-scale release programs by sugar mills in North India.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Yellowing and drying of leaves from midrib outward, copious honeydew deposition promoting sooty mold, reduced cane thickness and weight, lowered sugar recovery, partial or complete drying of cane in severe outbreaks, transmission of grassy shoot disease
🩹 Treatment
- Release egg parasitoid Tetrastichus pyrillae @ 5000-10000/ha, conserve Epipyropid parasitoids, apply neem oil 5 ml/L on lower leaves, use need-based insecticide when 5-10 adults per leaf observed
🌿 Organic treatments
- Release Tetrastichus pyrillae @ 10000/ha at peak egg laying, release Epipyrops sp. (nymphal parasitoid), spray neem oil 5 ml/L + 5 g/L soap, apply Metarhizium anisopliae @ 5 g/L, dig out trash and burn after harvest
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 0.3 ml/L, Dimethoate 30 EC @ 1 ml/L, Acephate 75 SP @ 1 g/L, Buprofezin 25 SC @ 1.5 ml/L, Monocrotophos 36 SL @ 1.5 ml/L (in non-monsoon period only)
🛡️ Prevention
- Avoid ratooning for more than 2 years, burn trash immediately after harvest to kill eggs, sow resistant varieties (Co 86032, CoS 767), maintain proper irrigation and nutrition to avoid stress, control wild grasses around field, avoid late planting, monitor with light traps
🪴 Affected plants
- Sugarcane, Sorghum, Maize, Pearl Millet, Paddy, Wild Grasses
🦋 Natural predators
- Tetrastichus pyrillae, Epipyrops sp., Lycosa spiders, Ladybird Beetles, Robber Flies, Damsel Bugs
🌱 Host plants
- Saccharum officinarum, Saccharum spontaneum, Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, Pennisetum
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 300-800 eggs in groups of 30-50 on lower leaves and leaf sheaths.
- Eggs hatch in 6-15 days.
- Nymphs pass through 5 instars in 35-50 days.
- Adult lifespan 30-50 days.
- Total life cycle 50-90 days.
- 3-4 generations per year, overlapping generations common.
📅 Season
- July-November (monsoon to post-monsoon), peak during Aug-Oct
🔎 Appearance
- Straw-colored to greenish-yellow planthopper with a long pointed snout and two pairs of folded wings.
- Forewings have small dark spots near tips.
- Adults jump readily when disturbed.
- Nymphs are pale yellow with white waxy tufts on the abdomen and a forked tail.
💥 Damage level
- Severe
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Rapid
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- South Asia
- Southeast Asia
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