Sexing of Pupae and Adult Moths of Teak Skeletonizer, <I>Pyrausta Machaeralis</I> Walker (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae)

Abstract

Pyrusia machaeralis Walker is a serious post-monsoon pest of Teak in India and causes economic loss to this crop. For an economic entomologist working on the control of insect pests, often it becomes absolutely necessary to determine and separate the two sexes (male and female) of the pest in the live condition. Further, for various experimentations in recent trends in insect control methods, sex differentiation is a pre-requisite. With this view in mind, the secondary sexual characters in the pupae and adult moths of P. machaeralis Walker have been studies. Beeson (1941) has mentioned the presence of scent hairs in the thick middle tibiae of the male moth and thick and blunt abdomen in the female.