Seasonal incidence of sapota fruit borer, Phycita erythrolophia Hampson on Sapota

Studies on seasonal incidence of sapota fruit borer, Phycita erythrolophia Hampson (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera) infesting sapota Manilkara achras (Mill.) Forsberg were carried out in sapota orchard of Agriculture College, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India during 2013–2014. Observations were recorded from four sapota genotypes viz., Cricket ball, Kalipatti, DSH-1 and DSH-2. The fruit borer was active throughout the year with a varying degree of infestation. Among four different genotypes of sapota, the incidence of fruit borer damage was more in cricket ball (10.24 %) followed by Kalipatti (9.64 %) varieties whereas on hybrids it ranged from 7.33 to 8.07 per cent. Across the genotypes, the mean percentage of fruit damage was ranged from highest incidence of 16.42 % in March and lowest in August 3.79 %. Pest incidence was more during dry period i.e. from November to April and less during rainy season (July to October). A study on correlation of fruit borer with weather parameters indicated that there was a significant and positive correlation between fruit borer damage and maximum temperature in all genotypes. Rest of the weather factors viz., minimum temperature, relative humidity and rain fall had no influence on pest population during the period of study.