Lepidopteran insect pests of Elaeocarpus angustifolius Bl. in nursery

Elaeocarpus angustifolius is a scared tree species in India with a poor regeneration capability. It produces a moderately hard timber generally of various end uses. The present study is a report on infestation of three insect pests namely Hyposidra talaca (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Homona coffearia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) damaging the plant at its nursery stage. The infestation intensity of H. talaca and S. litura was observed to be in the range of 60-70% leading to 80-90% defoliation of the seedlings. However, H. coffearia has lesser damage potential. All the three insect pests are polyphagous in nature, reported to damage many agriculture, horticulture and forestry crops. However, all the three insect pests are being reported as pest of this plant at nursery stage for the first time. The characteristics of larvae, pupa, adult and their feeding pattern have been discussed in the present article.