Arthropod Diversity of Pomegranate Crop under High Density Planting in Tamil Nadu

Insects associated with pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.), was observed from 2015 to 2016 in four major pomegranate growing districts of Tamil Nadu viz., Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur and Karurat monthly intervals. A total of 31 species under two genera and sixteen families of six orders was documented. In addition, seven natural enemies in association with pomegranate pests were also recorded. Among the different functional groups, phytophagous groups were dominated, followed by predators and parasitoids. The above reports confirmed that the commercially growing pomegranate farmers are facing a number of pest problems in their field, with no practical eco eco-friendly solutions. Further, in order to increase the production and productivity, farmers are growing pomegranates under high high-density planting, which accommodates 1000 plants per hectare as compared to 750 plants per hectare in the normal planting. Since the introduction of high high-density planting in pomegranate is new, systematic study on the occurrence of pests under high high-density planting is needed.


INTRODUCTION
Pomegranate is one of the important fruit crops in India and is being cultivated in arid and semiarid regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (Balikai et al., 2011). India is the largest producer of pomegranate in the world. The total area under cultivation of pomegranate in India is 107.00 thousand ha and production is around 743.00 thousand tons. Although India is the largest producer, its productivity is only 6.9 MT/ha. Totally 91 insects, 6 mites and 1 snail pest feeding on pomegranate crop havebeen reported in India (Verghese and Rashmi, 2014). The above reports confirmed that the commercially growing pomegranate farmers are facing several pest problems in their field, with no practical eco-friendly solutions. Further, to increase production and productivity, farmers are growing pomegranate under high density planting, which accommodates 1000 plants per hectare compared to 750 plants per hectare in the normal planting. Since the introduction of high-density planting in pomegranate is new, systematic study on the occurrence of pests under high density planting is wanting. Hence, to address the problem of pests under high-density planting with their natural enemies were studied in Tamil Nadu.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Intensive field studies wereconducted during the year 2015 to 2016 for recording the insect pests and their natural enemies that are associated with pomegranate. The survey was carried out in four major pomegranate growing districts of Tamil Nadu viz., Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur and Karur (Table  1). In each district, minimum of threefarmer's fields were randomly selected and in field, ten plants were selected at random for observations on insect pests, natural enemies and type of damage. The insects were collected by hand picking and by using sweep nets from the study area. The young ones of the lepidopteran insect pests along with damaged flushes were collected in the study area, reared until their pupation and observed for the emergence of parasitoids if any. The predators and parasitoids collected from the study area during the survey were identified in the biocontrol laboratory, Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

Occurrence of pests and their natural enemies
The incidence of pests was recorded periodically on pomegranate under high-density planting during the survey. The observation showed the presence of twenty-four pests in pomegranate under highdensity planting (Table 2).Among twenty-four pests, one belongs the order Coleoptera,ten from the order Hemiptera, nine from the order Lepidoptera, two in order orthoptera,one in order Acarina. The natural enemies recorded during the survey in the pomegranate ecosystem are listed in Table  3 & Fig. 1. The entomophages recorded against aphid, mealy bugs, whiteflies were Chilomenes sexamaculata Fabricius, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant, Coccinella septumpunctata Linnaeus, Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi (Esben-Petersen), Scymnus craccivora Ayyar and Mallada sp. The parasitoid found associated with castor semilooper was larval parasitoid Microplitis maculipennis Szepligeti. General predators like preying mantis and spiders were also found in pomegranate cropping. Similar observation on pomegranate was also reported by Ananda et al. (2009) in Karnataka. They highlighted the occurrence of thirteen sucking pests feeding on pomegranates. Hemiptera (8 species), thysanoptera (3 species) and two acarina pests. Likewise, the occurrence of 91 insects, 6 mites and one snail pest was documented on pomegranate (Balikai et al. , 2011). Karuppuchamy (1994 reported on the presence of 15 insect species and four non insect pests of pomegranate. Butani (1979) reported that about 45 species of insects attack the pomegranate shrub. Jadhav and Ajri (1985) reported the sucking pests like thrips, aphids, mealy bugs, white flies, and mites from various part of India. About 100pests belonging to 12 orders and 38 families and 64 natural enemies of seven orders and 14 families were recorded on pomegranate orchards of Turkey (Ozturk and Ulusoy, 2009). In addition,7 natural enemies were recorded associated with pomegranate pests under highdensity planting. Four from the family Coccinellidae and one each from Chrysopidae, Braconidae and Mantidae. Present observation on the association of natural enemies with pomegranate pest was also reported by Ananda et al. (2009) who reported five species from Coccinellidae, two from Mantidae and one each from Chrysopidae and Aphelenidae in the pomegranate eco system.
Represents the distribution of pomegranate pests under high density planting and their severity. The scores indicated that the level of infestation of fruit borer Deudorix isocrates and fruit sucking moth Othreisfullonia were high in pomegranate planting of Erode, Tiruppur and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu, Whereas the occurrence of thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis was high in all four districts. Figure 1. Insect order wise diversity in pomegranate under high density planting The incidence of mealybug Ferrisia virgata was high in Erode and Tiruppur districts but low in Coimbatore and Karur districts. The damage by the aphids Aphis punicae was high in Coimbatore districts comparedto other districts. The whitefly incidence was high in Erode, Tiruppur and Karur but low in Coimbatore district. The occurrence of ash weevil Myllocerus subfasciatus was high in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts. Regarding the incidence of castor semilooper Acheae janata, Coimbatore and Tiruppur showed the presence, whereas it was not recorded in Erode and Karur.The other pest noted during the survey was two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, whose incidence was low in Coimbatore as compared to the medium level of infestation noted in Erode and Tiruppur districts. The pest was not found in the Karur district

CONCLUSION
The above repor ts confirmed that the commercially growing pomegranate farmers are facing a number of pest problems in their field, with no practical eco-friendly solutions. Further, in order to increase production and productivity, farmers are growing pomegranates under high-density planting, which accommodates 1000 plants per hectare as compared to 750 plants per hectare in the normal planting. Since the introduction of high-density planting in pomegranate is new, systematic study on the occurrence of pests under high-density planting is needed.

FUNDING AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
There is no funding, The authors are grateful to Dean, School of Post Graduate Study (SPGS), Director, Professor and Head, Department of Entomology and Central for Plant Protection Studies Volume xxx | Issue xxxx | 9 ig 1. Insect order wise diversity in pomegranate under high density planting

ONCLUSION
The above reports confirmed that the commercially growing pomegranate farmers are facing a number of est problems in their field, with no practical eco eco-friendly solutions. Further, in order to increase the roduction and productivity, farmers are growing pomegranates under high high-density planting, which ccommodates 1000 plants per hectare as compared to 750 plants per hectare in the normal planting. Since he introduction of high high-density planting in pomegranate is new, systematic study on the occurrence of ests under high high-density planting is needed.

unding and Acknowledgment
There is no funding, The authors are grateful to Dean, School of Post Graduate Study (SPGS), Director, rofessor and Head, Department of Entomology and Central for Plant Protection Studies and Tamil Nadu gricultural University for the help rendered during my research period. thics statement o specific permits were required for the described field studies because no human or animal subjects ere involved in this research. riginality and plagiarism uthorsshouldensurethattheyhavewrittenandsubmitonlyentirelyoriginalworks,andiftheyhaveused the work nd/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. On behalf of all the authors, I assure that he work is original and the others works reported here are properly cited. onsent for publication lltheauthorsagreedtopublishthecontent. ompetinginterests herewas no conflictofinterestinthepublicationofthiscontent ataavailability ll the data of this manuscript are included in the MS. No separate external data source is required. If nythingisrequiredfromtheMS,certainly,thiswillbeextendedbycommunicatingwiththecorresponding author hrough corresponding officialmail; elaento@gmail.com and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University for the help rendered during my research period.

Ethics statement
No specific permits were required for the described field studies because no human or animal subjects were involved in this research.

Originality and plagiarism
On behalf of all the authors, I assure that the work is original and the others works reported here are properly cited.

Consent for publication
All the authors agreed to publish the content.

Competing interests
There was no conflict of interest in the publication of this content

Data availability
All the data of this manuscript are included in the MS. No separate external data source is required. If certainly,thiswillbeextendedbycommunicatingwit hthecorresponding author through corresponding officialmail; elaento@gmail.com