Larval feeding and gallery pattern of a single larva of Hoplocerambyx spinicornis, a major pest of Sal, Shorea robusta

Abstract

The present study deals with the quantification of larval feeding and gallery pattern of a single larva of Hoplocerambyx spinicornis, a severe pest of Sal, Shorea robusta. The larva is the destructive stage. They bore into the bark and then slowly moves inwards and upwards through bast and sapwood. Consumption and digestion of wood by a single larva showed that the third instar larva do the maximum damage to the Sal tree as indicated by the size of frass ejected from the tree. During its life time one larva can cject 30.19g (dry wt.) of frass and fecal matter. In view of damage, the bark, bast and heartwood region are of major importance as the attacks is more intense in these region while sapwood region is only a passage way where the larva do not stay for too long. Thus, the size of the fecal matter is the true indicator of larval instars.

Keywords

• Quantification
• Single larva
• Gallery pattern
• Fecal matter