author(s)
V Divya Bharathi, CP Viji and A Sujatha

abstract
The spotted pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Geyer) is one of the major limitations to increasing the production and productivity of Indian bean in the tropics. The concealed feeding habit of spotted pod borer in flowers and pods make it difficult to control. Hence, host plant resistance is an important tool for the management of these pests. Therefore, nine determinate Indian bean varieties were screened for resistance to spotted pod borer under field conditions and characterized for morphological traits in the flowers and pods. The correlation studies revealed that, pod wall thickness (0.852^**), pod length (0.756^*), pod weight (0.709^*), number of seeds per pod (0.795^*), seed length (0.850^**), seed width (0.798^**) had significant positive correlation with spotted pod borer damage. Therefore these traits can be used as phenotypic markers to identify Indian bean varieties with resistance to spotted pod borer M. vitrata.