Maximizing the crop yield while minimizing the environmental impacts requires the development of appropriate pest management approaches. In this context, a study conducted in the Instructional Farm of Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 rabi seasons provided valuable insights on the mustard aphid suppression under different management modules (i.e., biorational, chemical, and integrated management modules) in the cabbage ecosystem. The study suggests the implementation of the integrated pest management module (Module 3) using Imidacloprid 70% WS as seed treatment and neem cake as soil application can provide significantly (p<0.001) better aphid control at the initial phase. However, application of Buprofezin 25% SC and Fipronil 5% SC, as first and second spray, respectively, caused drastic reductions (p<0.001) in aphid population under the chemical management module (Module 2), with almost no aphid population at 63 days after transplanting (DAT) (i.e., 0.02±0.02 no. of aphids/leaf). Still, the mean aphid population was statistically at par under Modules 2 and Module 3, with a mean aphid population of 11.98±0.45 and 9.68±0.34 aphids/leaf, respectively. Furthermore, the chemical management module was recorded with the lowest population of Micraspis discolor (i.e., 0.23±0.02 per plant) and Coccinella transversalis (i.e., 0.16±0.02 per plant), which was significantly (p<0.001) lower than the integrated management module. In contrast, the biorational module (Module 1) was the safest for both natural enemies but possessed the lowest aphid control efficiency (i.e., mean population of 21.45±1.36 no. of aphids/leaf). These facts suggest that adopting an integrated management module over chemical and biorational management modules can provide better aphid suppression with less harmful effect on natural enemy populations.

Meloidogyne species pose a significant threat to betelvine crop production in India as well as West Bengal due to the losses they cause by direct and indirect damage. The present study determined the identification and distribution of root-knot nematode species and races collected from various betelvine growing areas in the Terai region. A total of 85 samples were collected, 65 (76.47

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), an invasive pest has recently spread to all over India and several other countries. For management of this pest, it is important to monitor moth activity by using pheromone traps. In the present study pheromone traps (Polythene sleeve type) baited with ‘GAIAGEN Lures’ (rubber septa) were installed @ 12 traps/ha in the experimental fields. The adult male moths caught during an observational week were counted. Per cent plant infestation was recorded at every seven days interval. The results have revealed that there was a gap of several weeks between peak field infestation and peak moth catch/trap, it indicates that field infestation was high even though moth trap catch was low and there is a negative association between the trap catches and per cent plant infestation. The relationship between field infestation (No. of larvae/plant and % plant infestation) and trap catches were negatively correlated for all the five weeks i.e., nth, (n-1)th, (n-2)th, (n-3)th, (n-4)th in both 2022-23 and 2023-24 years. There was no concrete evidence of field infestation taking place after adult trap catches. Therefore, it can be concluded that only pheromone trap catch data cannot be taken into consideration for timing insecticide application. Field scouting could be better option for monitoring fall armyworm in maize.

In this study, the diversity of coccinellids along with their polymorphic forms is presented, by studying the structure of male genitalia and siphon. Out of the fourteen species of coccinellids listed, eleven species were predaceous on aphids. The male genitalia structures of the five most common species i.e., occinella septempunctata, Co. transversalis, Cheilomenes sexmaculata, Micraspis discolor and M. yasumatsui have been described and found to exhibit characteristic differentiating features. The melanic and non-melanic forms of Ch. sexmaculata, the most ubiquitous coccinellid in the Indian subcontinent, were dissected and shown to have similar male genitalia structures. Problem of misidentification due to polymorphic forms of coccinellid beetles can be mitigated by studying male genitalia and siphonal structures in addition to external morphological studies.

In the study on arthropod biodiversity in brinjal with the variety Navakiran, 12 numbers of different insect pests under 6 orders and 12 families were recorded. These included Phyllotreta sp., epilachna beetle, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab. cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), cotton jassid, Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida, hooded hopper, Oxyrachis terandus Fab., thrips, Thrips tabaci (Linderman), brinjal shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis Guen, short horned grasshopper, Hieroglyphus banian Fab., long horned grass hopper (unidentified), red pumpkin beetle, Aulachophora foviecollis (Lucas) and dipteran fruit fly (unidentified). Besides, six different natural enemies namely, one species of lynx spider (unidentified), one species of Syrphid fly (unidentified), one species of ant (Solenopsis sp.) and three species of ladybird beetles (Cheilomenes sexmaculatus Fab., Coccinella transvarsalis Fab. and Brumoides sp.) were recorded from the field. The cotton aphid showed its peak during 8th SW (Standard Week) while in case of jassid, whitefly and leaf hopper it was during 9th SW. Epilachna beetle had two peaks- during 8th and 18th SW. Brinjal shoot and fruit borer attained peak during 8th SW.

Field and laboratory investigations were carried out during 2022-23 to study the bioecology and efficacy of plant extracts for the phytophagous coccinellid, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (F.) for understanding them properly to devise ecology based management techniques. Besides damaging the brinjal a significant population of H. vigintioctopunctata beetle was recorded from the solanaceous weeds like Solanum nigrum and Physalis spp. Biology of H. vigintioctopunctata on S. nigrum under laboratory conditions was conducted and the results revealed that the beetle completed its life cycle in 23.1±3.5 days and the mean fecundity was 220 ± 33.0 revealing that the beetle can very successfully breed on this host plant. Morphological and taxonomical descriptions of the immature as well as adult stages of these beetles were studied and for proper identification the male genitalia was dissected. The population fluctuation of H. vigintioctopunctata in relation to weather parameters was also monitored under field conditions and was observed to have significant influence altogether on the pest population in brinjal but not in alternate hosts. The methanolic extracts of Polygonum hydropiper and tobacco decoction were found moderately effective in lowering the leaf damage by the beetle.

Pentatomid bugs, commonly known as stink bugs, are typically herbivorous insects known for their piercing-sucking feeding habits on crops and wild plants. Among these stink bugs, Spermatodes variolosus (Walker, 1867) stands out as the smallest species, measuring 2.6-2.9 mm, and is also known to be phytophagous. In this study, we report the presence of seven species from six different genera of stink bugs in the rice fields of Cooch Behar, West Bengal. Notably, this research marks the first documented occurrence of Spermatodes variolosus (Walker, 1867) in the rice ecosystem of India, raising concerns about its potential pest status. Furthermore, this study includes taxonomic keys for the six genera identified.

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is an important commercial flowering crop. This plant is often invaded by sucking pests like aphids, mealybugs and mites causing severe damage to the quality and quantity of flower yield. Searching for tolerant cultivars against these pests constitutes one of the most cost-effective pest management strategies. An experiment was conducted at Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, India to find out the reaction of forty different genotypes of spray chrysanthemum to aphids, mealybugs and mites. The results indicated that the genotypes exhibited significant variations in harbouring number of all the three sucking pests and the per cent plant infestation by aphids and mealybugs also varied significantly. The variation in pest infestation may be attributable to the genetic traits of these chrysanthemum cultivars. Out of all the genotypes tested the varieties Yellow Baby, Arka Kirti and Arka Yellow Gold were found to be the most tolerant against all the sucking pests and therefore, may be recommended for cultivation in the Terai agroclimatic region of West Bengal.

The primary goal of this study is to determine the effect of weather variables on aphid populations and development of a weather-based forewarning model using a powerful machine learning technique called random forest. The developed model could be employed to formulate proper management strategies to help the farming community control aphid infestation.

Coccinellidae is a group of economically important insect and widely used as biological control agents in different agricultural and horticultural ecosystem. In last few years a number of works on coccinellid beetles have been carried out at Pundibari region of northern tract of West Bengal. Here, a first preliminary checklist of coccinellid beetles from the Pundibari region has been presented. Hitherto, from this region only the subfamily, Coccinellinae has been reported. This current checklist consists of 21 species of coccinellid beetles under 14 genera and belonging to 5 different tribes including both insectivorous and phytophagous species of ladybird beetles. The tribes mentioned here were Aspidimerini, Chilocorini, Coccinellini, Epilachnini, and Sticholotidini. Phytophagous coccinellids mentioned in this list are Henosepilachna pusillanima, Henosepilachna septima, and Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata and remaining were insectivorous ones.

The occurrence of leaf folder, Pycnarmon cribrata (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on the medicinal plant nirgundi, Vitex negundo Linn. has been observed in West Bengal, India. The pest damaged the foliage by folding the leaflets, feeding within and ultimately making the foliage dry and papery. However, the identity of the pest species was confirmed through morphological characteristics of male and female genitalia as well as sequence amplified product of Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (GenBank No. ON545929). Biological studies revealed that the entire life cycle of the moth completed in 29.90 +/- 2.42 days on average, while the range was between 25-34 days. The peak larval incidence was noticed in 16th SMW (Standard Meteorological Week) and 24th SMW with population of 12 and 15 larvae per plant during 2021 and 2022, respectively. The percent plant incidence levels ranged from 15 to 100% during the first year i.e. 2021 and 30 to 100% during the second year i.e. 2022. The correlation of mean larval population (r = -0.66) and percent plant incidence (r = -0.71) with weather parameters indicated a highly significant negative association with the maximum temperature and a significant positive correlation with maximum and minimum relative humidity. The parasitization of Choeras sp. (Braconidae: Hymenoptera) (GenBank No. OP293230) was observed on old age larvae of P. cribrata and the natural parasitization was recorded as 26% during the study period. This study provides a comprehensive information on the occurrence, nature of damage, biology, morphometry, seasonal incidence and natural enemy fauna associated with P. cribrata which will be helpful for implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies to curtail the pest problem on V. negundo, a valuable medicinal plant.

The present study was conducted during September, 2018 to August, 2020 on the seasonal incidence of Vespa tropica Linn. on Apis mellifera Linn. under terai agro-ecological region of West Bengal, India. Ten numbers of A. mellifera colonies of similar strength was placed in the apiary unit of Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India in which no pest management strategies were carried out. Incidence of V. tropica was recorded higher during July to October peaking in the month of July (251.50±22.17 visits day-1) with annual average success rate of 57.23%±1.16%. From December to March little or no incidence was recorded. Minimum abundance of hornets was recorded at 07:00–09:00 hours. After that incidence started increasing with maximum incidence recorded at 13:00–15:00 hours i.e., 43.52±11.97 visits to the bee colonies day-1 during this time gap. Both maximum and minimum temperature and relative humidity showed significantly positive correlation with the incidence of V. tropica. However, rainfall was found to be detrimental for their incidence as it showed negative and non-significant correlation with their incidence. As V. tropica has been considered as a major enemy of honey bees, so the results obtained from the study can be used for designing integrated pest management strategies against this pest that will allow the beekeepers to focus on that particular time period when this pest is more abundant.

This paper reports the occurrence of giant ladybird beetle Anisolemnia dilatata (Fabricius) (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) predating upon the aphid, Aiceona sp. infesting the Som plants, Persea bombycina Kost. from Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. This is a new prey record for the Giant ladybird beetle.

The leaf folder, Helcystogramma hibisci (Stainton, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an oligophagous pest of different malvaceous plants. In this study, attempts have been made to study the biology and taxonomy of the insect infesting musk mallow (Abelmoschus moschatus), an aromatic cum medicinal plant in India, following an integrative approach based on external morphology, internal genitalia structures, and molecular taxonomy. In the initial stage, the larva scrapes the tender surface of the leaves, and later, grown-up larvae web the leaves by folding them longitudinally. The entire inner content of the leaves is eaten by the larvae and ultimately the leaves get dry. The identity of the pest species is confirmed through dissecting of the male and female genitalia of the pest species and molecular confirmation (GenBank accession number ON545806). By studying the biology of the insect, the egg incubation period, larval period, and pupal period were determined to be 4.70 +/- 0.64, 13.66 +/- 0.86, and 6.46 +/- 0.61 (male), and 7.60 +/- 0.71 days (female), respectively. The average fecundity and adult longevity of males and females were 61.20 +/- 11.68 eggs/female, 4.93 +/- 1.38 days (male), and 8.06 +/- 1.56 days (female), respectively. During their fourth instar, male larvae have dark-colored gonads that are easily visible on the dorsal integument of the abdominal segment distinguishing them from female larvae. Further confirmation of the identification was done by keeping the larvae in separate vials until emergence; larvae with this dark-colored character could be confirmed to be males, while other the larvae developed into female moths. The head capsule width of the larval instars was 0.26 +/- 0.02, 0.47 +/- 0.04, 0.66 +/- 0.03, 0.83 +/- 0.06, and 1.13 +/- 0.14 mm, respectively. The information is useful for proper identification and management of this pest in such a valuable and popular plant as musk mallow in India. To our best knowledge, this is the first description of this pest species from the Indian region along with molecular confirmation.

Aim: Analyzing the community structure of predatory spider fauna in rice ecosystems to facilitate conservation biological control and sustainable pest management programmes. Methodology: The spiders were collected from rice field with cultivated variety (MTU-7029) during both Kharif and Rabi seasons at different rice growth stages. The spiders collected by various sampling methods such as direct catch in polythene carry bags, ground collection and foliage collection were kept in collection bottles and killed by inserting a strip of cotton dipped in chloroform and transferred separately on a white sheet of paper. Thereafter, using a stereo zoom microscope (ZEISS Stemi 508), the spiders were sorted, separated, counted, identified based on the available keys and literature described by Tikader (1987) and Barrion and Litsinger (1995). The unidentified samples were sent to the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for authorized identification. Results: In total, sixteen different species of predatory spiders belonging to six families of order Araneae and representing four functional/foraging guilds were identified in the rice ecosystem of Sub-Himalayan Terai region of West Bengal. These included Lycosa pseudoannulata Boesenberg & Strand and Arctosa tanakai Barrion & Litsinger; Oxyopes lineatipes C.L. Koch, Oxyopes javanus Thorell and Oxyopes salticus Hentz; Bianor sp. and Hasarius adansoni Audouin, while the family Thomisidae was represented by a single species Thomisius sp. All these eight species constituted the non web former group of spiders. The web weaving spiders recorded were Tetragnatha maxillosa Thorell, Tetragnatha mandibulata Walckenaer. Tetragnatha javana Thorell, Leucage decorate Walckenaer, Leucage celesbesiana Walckenaer and Neoscona theisi Walckenaer, Neoscona mukerjei Tikader, Araneus sp. Interpretation: The lynx spiders (Oxyopidae) were found to be the most dominant group by individual numbers, followed by the wolf spiders (Lycosidae), however, considering the species richness, the long jawed spiders (Tetragnathidae) were in large number with five different species. Good agricultural practices along with habitat diversification of landscapes are imperative for enhancing the predation by rice field spiders. Key words: Dominance, Foraging guilds, Predatory spiders, Rice, Species richness, Terai region