http://www.padil.gov.au/pbt/files/uall/STSB_Fig_1_0.

jpg

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Sugarcane top borer

Larva of Sugarcane Top Shoot Borer
 Insect pests of Sugarcane (Sucking insects)

Sugarcane Leafhopper
Pyrilla perpusilla Walker
Lophopidae : Hemiptera

Sugarcane Black bug

Sugarcane Mealy bug Cavelerius excavatus Dist.
Saccharicoccus sacchari Cockerell Lygaeidae: Hemiptera
Pseudococcidae: Homoptera

Sugarcane Whitefly
Aleurolobus barodensis Maskell
Aleyrodidae : Hemiptera
 Sugarcane Leafhopper
Pyrilla perpusilla Walker
Lophopidae : Hemiptera
Hosts: wheat, barely, oats, sugarcane
IDENTIFICATION

Adult:
• Straw colored body
• Wings light brown with dark patches
• A snout like prolongation on front side
• Prominent red eyes
• 2 mm long

• Very agile and jumps around in large numbers

• Make noise when a person walks through field

Eggs:
• Oval pale-white
• Cluster of eggs covered with white, fluffy material
from anal tuft of female
Nymph:

• Grayish brown
• Have two white prominent feather like filaments at
the end of body
• 1 week after hatching, nymph possess two long tuft
of waxy secretion at the end of the abdomen
Nymph
http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000XrCan4CDfx0/s
DAMAGE:

Both nymph and adults suck the cell sap from underside of the
leaves

•Pyrilla prefers succulent sugarcane varieties with broad leaves

•In severe infestation, no variety is spared
•Insects feed underside of the leaves and desap the plant
•Feeding produces honeydew that leads to sooty black mould and
interferes with photosynthesis
•Leaves acquire sickly black appearance
•Gur/Sugar made from pest attacked canes is of very poor quality.
•Leaves after desaping turn pale yellow and shrivel up later
•Canes dry up and die in severe infestation
•35% reduction in sucrose of canes
http://www.vsisugar.com/images/jpg/sugarcane/pyrilla-115x150.jpg

•Gur does not solidify properly

Epipyrops melanoleuca
Active period: March-October
a parasite
 Sugarcane Whitefly
Aleurolobus barodensis Maskell
Aleyrodidae : Hemiptera

IDENTIFICATION

Adult:

• Brownish white dusted with white powder

• Two pair of wings mottled with black dots

Eggs:

• Creamy white, conical and glued to surface of

leaves
• Laid on under surface of leaves

Nymph:

• Black and have silvery grey wax coating on the body

• 3 mm long

Pupa:
Active period: May-October
• Dark brown
A: Nymph, B: Pseudo-pupa, C: Adult
DAMAGE:

Only nymph cause damage by sucking the cell sap

•Nymphs damage by sucking cell sap

•Yellow streaks appear on the attacked leaves
•Crop acquires a palish green appearance

•Plant vitality is reduced

•Poor quality and quantity of gur due to subnormal
crystallisation of sugar
•Sugar recovery is reduced about 15-25%

•Black moulds develops on honeydew excreted by the pest

•Moulds makes leaves unfit for fodder purpose

•Comparatively, poor crop with thin stand is attacked more

readily than a well manured and heavy crop.
 Sugarcane Black bug
Cavelerius excavatus Dist.
Lygaeidae: Hemiptera

IDENTIFICATION

Adult:
• Black with white patches on wings
• Wings extending slightly beyond the abdomen
• 6-7 mm long

Eggs:

• Creamy white when freshly laid, later on turns brownish

Nymph:

• Similar in shape to adult

• Smaller in size than adults
Active period: July-September
DAMAGE:

•Both nymph and adult cause damage

•Both cluster in central leaf whorl, sheath bases of lower leaves of young
plants
•Suck the cell sap from the plant
•Attacked leaves show pale, brown patches

•Attacked leaves dry up gradually

•Holes of their feeding are also noticeable

•In severe infestation, crops looks as a burnt up crop
•Varieties with broad and loosely attached sheaths are preferred by this pest

Control:
•Burning of stubbles
•Endosulfan, Methamidophos
 Sugarcane Mealy bug
Saccharicoccus sacchari Cockerell
Pseudococcidae: Homoptera

IDENTIFICATION

Adult:

• Female pinkish elongate

• Large female: 5 mm long, 2.5 mm width

• Females are sluggish having only one pair of wings and

short lived.

• Males only function to fertilize

• Body covered with white mealy powder

Eggs:
• Yellow, smooth, cylindrical, and rounded at both ends http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/94/pests

Nymph: Active period: June-October

But remains active throughout
• Tiny young ones are transparent, pink and very active the year
DAMAGE:

•Nymphs and wingless female adults cause damage by sucking the cell sap

•When canes are 4 month old, pest appears and remains till harvest

•Many bugs are clustered at the basal nods of canes

•If leaf sheath is removed, they are clearly visible.

•They force themselves underneath the leaf sheaths near the basal nodes

•Older bugs remain at the lower end and the crawlers reach the higher nodes

•Pest feeding show black spots Control:

•Complete removal of stubbles

•Black moulds interfere with plant photosynthesis •Use healthy sets of canes for sowing

•Sugar recovery and quality from such cane is affected