Observations on the Biology of Cylas formicarius Fabricius at Coimbatore
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Author:T. R. SUBRAMANIAN
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:46, Issue:aug-aug
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.A04083
Abstract
Cylas, formicarius Fabricius, commonly known as the sweet
potato weevil, is a well known cosmopolitan insect, which causes
serious damage to sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) both in the field
and storage. The loss caused by this pest is very extensive all over
the world and in India damage to the extent of 60 to 70% is not
uncommon. In recent years the weevil has been found to cause
serious damage to sweet potato at Coimbatore especially to some of
the exotic varieties. The author took up a detailed study on the
biology of this insect at Coimbatore especially on aspects like
number and duration of larval instars, alternate host plants and
incidence of the pest on different varieties of the sweet potato etc.
This paper gives an account of these observations together with
detailed morphological descriptions of early stages of the weevil.
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