Abstract

                                Elasmolomus sordidus (F.), commonly called sesame seed bug, which is asevere pest of sesame during the preharvest stage and storage. In sesamestorage warehouses, it is found hiding inside the gaps of arranged bagstacks during day time and it flies out and feeds on the seeds during nighttime. Studies were conducted for 8 weeks in a private sesame warehouse inVirudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, India, to find out whether TNAU- UV lighttrap attracts E. sordidus during night hours. The studies showed that TNAU- UV light trap was found effective for mass trapping adults of E. sordidus.The weekly mean of E. sordidus adults trapped per UV light trap during theexperimental period was 380.38±15.13.

Key words : TNAU - UV light trap; Elasmolomus sordidus; Mass trapping; Sesame warehouses; preharvest stage