The hog deer (Axis porcinus) is threatened by habitat alteration, fragmentation, and poaching, which have led to a drastic decline of its wild population. Two subspecies of A. porcinus have been described from its distribution range. A. p. porcinus is reported to occur from Pakistan along the Himalayan foothills through Nepal, India and Myanmar, and A. p. annamiticus is found in Thailand, Indo-China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. However, the current distribution range of A. p. annamiticus is still unclear. We used the partial control region (CR) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and seven microsatellite loci to investigate the intra-species structure, differentiation, and demographic history of hog deer populations from three landscapes, the Terai Arc, Northeast, and Indo-Burma (Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), Manipur, India) landscapes. We also carried out divergence time estimation using the complete mitogenome. The level of variation was ~4%, and the time of divergence of the KLNP population and the other Indian populations was about 0.22 Mya, i.e., during the last glaciation periods of the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene. The KLNP haplotypes of the control region were shared with the Southeast Asian subspecies, A. p. annamiticus. The results of the investigations of the microsatellite loci supported the mtDNA results unambiguously. Two genetically distinct lineages are found in India: one is found from the Terai Arc to Assam (A. p. porcinus) and the other in Manipur (A. p. annamiticus). The genetic diversity in KLNP was low and exhibited a higher degree of genetic differentiation compared with major Indian populations. The Bayesian skyline plots indicated that after a long phase of historic demographic stability, the populations of both the lineages of hog deer suffered pronounced declines during the period from ~800 years BP to 5000 years BP. In summary, our finding provided evidence that the KLNP population is probably a prime, isolated and sustaining stock of A. p. annamiticus and should be managed as evolutionarily significant units (ESUs).

The endangered Kashmir musk deer (Moschus cupreus) is native to the high altitudinal 2 region of the Himalayas. In this study, we sequenced, annotated and characterized the 2 complete mitogenome of M. cupreus to gain insight into the molecular phylogeny and 2 evolution of musk deer. The mitogenome of M. cupreus, which is 16,354 bp long comprised 2 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes 2 (rRNAs) and non-coding control region. The M. cupreus mitogenome composition was 2 highly A+T biased 68.42%, and exhibited a positive AT skew (0.082) and negative GC skew 2 (0.307). The phylogenetic analysis suggested that KMD is the most primitive extant species 2 in the genus Moschus whereas Alpine musk deer (M. chrysogaster) and Himalayan musk 2 deer (M. leucogaster) are closely related. This result confirmed the placement of M. cupreus 2 within the monotypic family Moschidae of musk deer. This study provides a better 3 understanding of lineage identification and musk deer evolution for further research.

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The relative efficacy of Trichogramma chilonis (Ishii) was evaluated for management of the brinjal shoot and fruit borer in the field condition at the Horticulture Farm of Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur from July 2016 to February 2017. The result showed that when three dosages of egg parasitoid, T. chilonis applied with 6 and 8 times releases @ 50000, 100,000 and 150,000 parasitized eggs at 10 days interval starting from 15 days after transplanting, releases of 150,000 for 6 and 8 times was found to be most effective with mean shoot damage of 11.96 and 12.66 per cent, respectively, while, the least effective rate was when parasitoid was released @ 50000/ha (T2 and T1) with mean shoot damage of 17.78 and 18.12 per cent, respectively, against fruit borer damage. Six and eight times release of T. chilonis @ 150,000 was most effective with mean fruit damage of 11.67 and 9.80 per cent on number basis, and 11.59 and 9.90 per cent per cent fruit damage on weight basis. The results revealed that the maximum parasitism was recorded for treatments of 8 and 6 times @ 150,000 /ha (47.61 per cent to 47.05 per cent).

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