Abstract

The red hairy caterpillar, Amsacta spp. causes heavy damage to the rainfed groundnut crop not only in its young stage but also in grown up stage by way of migration from field to field. Hence, an effective method of control of the pest will help the farmers in getting higher yield from their dry lands. The results of insecticidal trials laid out for the control of the caterpillars in early as well as grown up stages revealed the superiority of the chemical, trichlorphon 0.1% spray (Kuppuswamy et al 1965). In the control of the young caterpillars the chemical viz., sprays of parathion 0025%, dieldrin 0.2% and carbaryl 0.1% and dusts of carbaryl 10%, carbophenothion 2%, imidan 2% and BHC 10% were found effective. But to find out the efficacy of the above chemicals along with some newer chemicals available in controll- ing the grown up caterpillars of more than 20 days old, three insecticidal trials were laid out during the year 1965 and the results are presented in this paper.

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