Relative resistance in Teak clones of Karnataka to Defoliator, Hyblaea Puera Cramer (Lepidoptera: Hyblaeidae)

Abstract

Fifty-seven clones of Teak representing nine provenances of Karnataka were field evaluated for their natural resistance against Hyblaea puera in a twenty-three-year-old clonal seed orchard of Teak of South India. Results, based on average leaf-damage intensity over two years of observations, revealed that six Teak clones viz., MyMK-3 from Southern provenance, MyKN-1, MyKN-46 from Central provenance, STG-3, STG-06 of state graft series as well as Teli Teak of Dandeli were found to be resistant and other 23 clones were moderately resistant to Teak defoliator. The clone MyHuT-3 of Southern provenance was most susceptible and the remaining 27 clones were susceptible to H. puera. These findings suggest the existence of quantitative resistance among Teak clones against H. puera, and suggest the possibility of using resistant clones in the integrated pest management. This is perhaps the first report wherein a large number of Teak clones of Karnataka have been field evaluated for the resistance against H. puera.