Cotton
Flower Chafer
Oxycetonia versicolor
Insect
5 mins to read
In a Nutshell
- Damaged flowers and buds.
- Heavily-infested plants can look shabby as a result of this feeding damage.
Cotton
Symptoms
The pest can cause significant yield loss due to damage to reproductive organs. Adult beetles devour the flowers and buds by feeding on pollen, anthers and other reproductive parts inside the flowers. In cotton, they also attack tender bolls. They have also been observed chewing the tender shoots of eggplant crops and other tender tissue of their hosts, especially in the immature phase.
Recommendations
Organic Control
There are no known biological treatments at the moment.
Chemical Control
Always consider an integrated approach with preventive measures along with biological treatments, if available. There are no known chemical treatments at the moment.
What caused it?
Damage is caused by the chafer adults. Flower chafers are day-flying beetles and mainly pollen feeders. The grubs develop in organic matter in the soil, and some infest roots, but without causing serious damage to the crop. The adults measure 7 – 15 mm in length and 5 – 7 mm in breadth. The two sexes are alike. The body is compact and oval, usually somewhat flattened, brilliantly coloured and mostly brick red with black and white markings.
Preventive Measures
- The beetle migrates between crops and has a wide host range.
- Changing crop patterns and continuous use of insecticides may change the pest from minor pest to major pest status.
- Careful monitoring and timely reporting on this chafer beetle are necessary to avoid any future outbreak.
- In eggplant, the periodical application of insecticides for the management of shoot and fruit borer keeps the beetle population under control.
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