Digama hearseyana (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), A new threat to Karonda (Carissa carandus) in Rajasthan

Abstract

An infestation of Digama hearseyana Moore, 1859 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on karonda, Carissa carandus, D. hearseyana DigamaDigama hearseyana, Carissa carandus seasonal incidence, damageIn the species complex of Digama moths (Noctuidae:Digama hearseyana Moore ( 1859) is herein reported karonda. Digama hearseyana is distributed in South Africa, China, throughout India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Australia (Smetacek, 2008;Hampson, 1892). Karonda grows naturally in the Himalaya at elevations of 30 to 1,800 m, in the Siwalik Hills, the Western Ghats and in Nepal and Afghanistan. It is cultivated in India on a limited scale in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, as well as in the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests. It is a hardy, drought tolerant plant that thrives well in a wide range of soils (Khare, 2007;Lim 2012). The pest status of D. hearseyana is unknown and hence this study explores it's diagnostics, morphology and mtCOI DNA barcode.