Symptoms of damage
- Caterpillar bores into young fruits
- Feeds on internal contents (pulp and seeds)
- Dry up and fall off in without ripening
Identification of pest
- Larva : Pale greenish with pink tinge and fine hairs with dark head and prothoracic shield.
- Adult : Yellowish moth with black spots on the wing and body
Management
- Collect and destroy damaged fruits
- Clean cultivation as weed plants serve as alternate hosts
- Use light trap @ 1/ ha to monitor the activity of adults
- Insecticides: malathion 50 EC 0.1% , two rounds, one at flower formation and next at fruit set.