Biology and morphometry of curry leaf tortoise beetle, Silana farinosa (Boheman) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae)- an emerging pest in Kerala

Abstract

Silana farinosa (Boheman), commonly known as curry leaf tortoise beetle, is a coleopteran pest of curry leaves and some other plants belonging to the Rutaceae family. It is an emerging major pest of curry leaves in India that can cause severe defoliation to the crop. A female lays an average of 5.00 + 0.52 ootheca in her lifetime with a mean of 14.00 + 0.33 eggs in it. The average duration of the egg stage was 5.30 + 0.15 days, the grub stage was 16.80 + 0.29 days, the pupal stage was 5.00 + 0.21 and the adult stage was 81.10 + 0.80 days. Key words: Curry leaf, Silana farinosa, Kerala