Biology studies of tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fabricius on castor (Ricinus communis L.)
Deepak, SP Yadav, Sunita Yadav and Puneet
Biology of Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura Fabricius) on Castor was carried out during 2018-19 at Department of Entomology, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The total larval period of S. litura ranged from 12 to 22 days with a mean period of 15.6 ± 2.10 days. Pupation took place inside the soil (5 to 6 cm deep) provided in cylindrical glass jar. Mean pupal duration was 7.35 ± 0.80 days having a length and breadth of 14.20 ± 0.68 mm and 14.20 ± 0.68 mm, respectively. Total life cycle of S. litura varied from 21 to 37 days with an average period of 34.85 ± 3.44 days with a male-female ratio of 1:1.4 and adult emergence percentage was 86.66 per cent.