Mustard sawfly | 3 stages of Mustard sawfly

We know that mustard is cultivated a lot in India and oil is extracted from it do you cultivate mustard? If you have a Mustard sawfly attack in your field and you want to get rid of it, then today we will always talk about Mustard sawfly in its common name, scientific name, nature of the damage, life cycle, and how we manage it. Can you do it?

Mustard sawfly

The mustard sawfly is an insect of the order Hymenoptera. It is also known as a mustard caterpillar in India. This cuts the plant with the help of the ovipositor. Ovipositor looks like saw that there lay their eggs, so its name saw Fly.

Nature of damage of Mustard sawfly

we attack what kind of plant Mustard sawfly to learn it and how it kind of damages.

• It is a cold-weather paste in most areas of India. Its activity is confined generally to the period from October to March. Whereas in the western region this insect activity is seen in August.
• Plants dry up as a result of eating and holes are formed in the leaves after eating them. In sewer infestation, the former eat the plants and the plants die.
• The larval stage damages crops by vicariously feeding on the young crop; its feeding activities are generally confined to mornings and evenings.

The life cycle of Mustard sawfly

If you want to reduce or manage the damage caused by the Mustard sawfly then it is important to know about the life cycle or life history of this insect.

The life cycle of a mustard sawfly consists of four developmental stages: egg larva, pupa, and adult.

Egg stage of Mustard sawfly

This is the first stage of its life cycle, in which the female lays eggs.

• The female lays an egg singly into the tissue of the food plant.
• The egg-laying organ ovipositor is highly specialized for slitting open the margin of the leaves within which eggs are laid.
• Initially, they are milky in colour which turns into dark brown. They turn black at the time of hatching, 2 mm long and many eggs may be laid into one leaf.
• Each female is capable of laying usually 30 -61
• The hatching period of the egg varies from 4-27 days depending upon the environmental condition.

Larva stage of Mustard sawfly

 This is its second developmental stage, in which the eggs are hatched. And young larvae emerge from it which is called grub.

• The young grub is greenish-grey in colour and its body surface is hairlessly measuring 2 mm long.
• It begins to feed on the margin of the leaf and as it grows, its colour gets darker and darker.
• Full growing grub is 15 to 20 mm long has three pairs of thoracic and 8 paired abdominal legs and is provided with 5 strips on the back.
•  The larval period of the Mustard sawfly ends in 12 to 18 days.

Pupa stage of Mustard sawfly

 This is the third developmental stage of its life cycle, in which the grub goes into the soil for pupation.

•  Mustard sawfly grub goes into the soil where it prepares a cocoon made of silk buttressed by soil particles.
• The cocoon is 7 to 11 mm long and 4-6 mm wide.
• Its pupal period is 10 to 12 days.
• During severe colds, it hibernates in people’s stages.

Adult stage of Mustard sawfly

This is the last developmental stage of its life cycle.

• The adults’ sawfly is a sort of thickest body with a mixture of yellow-brown markings on it and a dark reddish-brown colour on the wings.
• It has two pairs of wings and good filters.
• Mustard sawfly does its activities during the day.
• The fly is also capable of laying an egg parthenogenetically but only to emerge from the egg.

Management of Mustard sawfly

1. Hand-picking of drops early in the morning is found useful to check the population of the pest.
2. Busting the crop with any one of the following insecticides has been found effective.

• Malathion 5% dust @ 25kg/ha

• Thiodon 4% dust 30kg/ha
• Carbaryl 5% dust 25 kg/ ha

The crop may also be sprayed by any one of the following insecticides to destroy the pest.

• Malathion 50 EC lit/ha
• Endosulfan 35 EC lit/ha
• Dichlorvos 36 SC lit/ha
• 0.1 % spray of bristol 45 WP protects the crop from grub. It acts as an antidepressant due to locating its host and finally dying.

Natural enemies

Larval parasite- Exodus population

If you like this information, then share it with your friends and if you have any doubts, then do comment below.

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