Abstract

The leaf eating caterpillar, Laphyma exigua Hb. is not specific in its food habits. It is known to attack practically all types of crop plants belonging to several National Orders. Host plants of this insect are described by several workers in India. (Fletcher 1920, Trehan & Pingle 1946, Kadam & Patel 1956, Sengupta and Behura 1957, etc.). During the winter season of 1957-1958 the larvae were found infesting many crops at Uadipur. In some they were observed to be of very little importance while in others their population was very large resulting in severe damage. There is enough evidence and more is accumulating, which suggests that besides other things perhaps one of the most important factors which determines the distribution of insects on different crops is the capacity of food to support growth. It is therefore, necessary to study the relation between the food plant and the insect growth. This type of information is even more needed in case of insect pests which have a wide variety of hosts because the type of food plays the most important role in building up of the population.

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