Tea mosquito bug, Helopetis antonii Signoret infestation damage scale on cashew germplasm

Abstract

Cashew, (Anacardium occidentale L.) is an important profitable nut crop of India. The nuts, apple and other derivatives of this crop are of commercial importance. Among the biotic factors, tea mosquito bug alone has a potential to cause 40 to 50 per cent yield loss in cashew. The per cent infestation of tea mosquito bug started appearing from November, reached to a peak i.e. ˃ 25.42 per cent in the month of January-February and declined towards the end of May and there after disappeared during the rest of months.