ENTO-354 Objective Questions with Answers

In this post, I have shortlisted most important objective questions of ENTO-354 Pests of crops and stored grain and their management, that will help you in the Semester End Theory Examination. These questions will cover your entire syllabus of ENTO-354.

Objectives on Pests of Rice

1. The monophagous/specific pest of paddy is the Yellow stem borer.
2. Clipping the tip of paddy seedlings before transplanting is done to eliminate the egg masses of the Rice yellow stem borer.
3. ‘Palinj’ or ‘White ears’ in paddy are produced by the Yellow stem borer.
4. The Yellow stem borer hibernates as a larva/pupa.
5. The stem borer common to sorghum, maize, rice, and wheat is Sesamia inferens.
6. The egg parasitoid of the yellow rice stem borer is Trichogramma japonicum.
7. The Green leaf hopper is the vector for Tungro and rice yellow dwarf virus diseases of rice.
8. Alternate wetting and drying of paddy fields is a management practice for the Brown plant hopper, Nilaparvata lugens.
9. Alley cropping is a cultural practice for managing the Brown plant hopper.
10. Both the Green and Brown plant hoppers attack the crop from the middle of the field.
11. “Silver shoot” in paddy is caused by the Paddy gall fly (Orseolia oryzae).
12. Leaf cases hanging from rice leaves and cut leaf bits floating in water are signs of the Caseworm.
13. Dragging a rope in a paddy field is a management practice for the Caseworm.
14. When individual rice grains become white and chaffy, or there is a buggy odour in rice fields during the milky stage, it is caused by the Rice Gundhi bug / Paddy earhead bug.
15. White parallel streaks along the leaf axis in paddy are caused by the Rice hispa.
16. Marginal rolling in rice seedlings is caused by Rice thrips.
17. Trimming of bunds is recommended for the rice grasshopper.
18. Damaging stages of pests:
    • Paddy grasshopper: Nymph and adult
    • Paddy stem borer: Larva
    • Rice hispa: Larva and adult

Objectives on Pests of Sorghum

• Sorghum shoot fly, Atherigona soccata:
  • It causes more side tillers in sorghum.
  • It attacks the crop only up to 4 weeks old.
  • Early sowing and a higher seed rate are recommended as countermeasures.
• Jowar stem borer, Chilo partellus:
  • It infests sorghum exclusively after one month.
  • It causes shot holes, pin holes, or leaf windowing in sorghum.
  • Infestation is more pronounced on rabi sorghum.
  • Its hibernating stage is the last instar larva.
• The insect responsible for ‘Sugary or Chikta’ disease in sorghum is the Aphid, Rhophalosiphum maidis.
• The virus disease ‘Freckled Yellow’ is transmitted by the adult delphacid,
• Peregrinus maidis.
• A chalky appearance of grains in sorghum is caused by the Earhead midge.
• The grubs and adults of the Chafer beetle, Oxycetonia versicolor, feed on sorghum grains.

Maize, Bajra, Wheat & Minor Millets

• Helicoverpa armigera feeds on the silk and developing cobs of maize.
• White ear heads in wheat are caused by the stem borer, Sesamia inferens.
• The presence of many ants at the base of a finger millet plant is a characteristic symptom of the Ragi root aphid.

Pulses

• Marigold is used as a trap crop for H. armigera.
• The damaging stage of the Tur plume moth is the larva.
• The Tur plume moth pupates outside the pod.
• A hairy larva making an irregular hole on a pigeon pea pod indicates a Tur plume moth.
• The podfly is a pulse pest where no external symptoms are observed.
• The podfly pupates inside the pigeonpea pod.
• The formation of galleries in the seed and a twisted appearance in a tur pod is caused by the Tur pod fly, Melanagromyza obtusa.
• Webbing of the flower inflorescence in pigeonpea is caused by the Spotted pod borer.
• The viral disease ‘pigeon pea sterility’ is transmitted by a Mite (Aceria cajani).
• The damaging stage of the Blister beetle is the adult.
• The blister beetle is an insect pest of pulses where the grub feeds on grasshopper eggs and the adult feeds on flowers.

Groundnut

• The damaging stage of the groundnut leaf miner is the larvae.
• Webbing and drying of terminal leaflets of groundnut is caused by the Leaf miner.
• The bunchy variety of groundnut is susceptible to the Leaf miner.
• Leaf miners are favored by hot, dry conditions.
• The Bawachi weed is an alternate host for the leaf miner.
• Bud necrosis of groundnut is transmitted by Thrips.
• Early instars of the Red hairy caterpillar are skeletonisers.
• The diapause stage of the red hairy caterpillar is the pupal stage.
• Scarification of groundnut pods is caused by termites.
• Pest Identification by Damage:
  • Burnt appearance of the whole field: Leaf miner
  • Webbing and drying of terminal leaflets: Leaf miner
  • Wilting of plants in patches with damaged roots: White grub
  • Total defoliation: Red hairy caterpillar

Castor, Sunflower, & Other Oilseeds

• The scientific name of the castor semilooper is Achaea janata.
• The Castor semilooper pupates in dried leaves.
• ‘Border spraying’ is recommended for aphid management in safflower.
• The soybean girdle beetle lays eggs inside the petiole, branch, or stem.
• The soybean Stemfly lays eggs inside the leaf lamina.
• White blotches on leaves, giving the field a burnt appearance in severe infestations, are caused by the Soybean leaf miner.
• An exit hole near the base of a branch or stem in soybean is due to the Stemfly.
• The Soybean girdle beetle diapauses in the grub stage.
• The leaf miner, A. modicella, is a serious pest of both soybean and groundnut.
• The Sesamum hawk moth lays its eggs on the underside of leaves.
• The Sesamum gallfly lays eggs into the ovaries of flower buds.

Cotton

• Cotton jassids lay eggs inside the leaf veins.
• The damaging stages of the Whitefly are nymph and adult.
• The Cotton whitefly lays eggs on the underside of leaves.
• The Cotton whitefly transmits the leaf curl virus.
• The bollworm that infests first during the early stage of cotton growth is the spotted bollworm.
• Drooping and drying of shoots in cotton is caused by the Spotted bollworm (E. vittella).
• Signs of the Spotted bollworm include small, circular holes with faecal matter on fruiting bodies, flared squares, and drooping shoots.
• The American bollworm creates large, irregular holes.
• The Pink bollworm creates pinhead-sized holes on bolls, causes rosette flowers, and moves between locules to feed on seeds.
• The pink bollworm is the bollworm where the larval stage undergoes diapause.
• The damaging stage of the pink bollworm is the larva.
• The Pink bollworm covers the opening once it enters the boll.
• Larvae of the pink bollworm overwinter in the seed.
• Rosette flower in cotton is due to the pink bollworm.
• The Red cotton bug is also known as the cotton stainer.
• The red cotton bug lays eggs in the soil.
• The site of both oviposition and pupation for the grey weevil is in the soil.

Sugarcane

• The Early shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus) attacks sugarcane up to 3 weeks after germination.
• The activity of the internode borer (Sesamia inferens) starts 3-4 months after planting and continues until harvest.
• Cane tissues turn red due to an attack by the internode borer.
• A bunchy top appearance in sugarcane is caused by the Sugarcane top shoot borer (Scirpophaga nivella).
• The damaging stages of the Sugarcane pyrilla are the nymph and adult.
• Stripping off the 5 to 6 lower leaves is a practice used to manage sugarcane pyrilla.
• Epiricania melanoleuca is a promising nymphal and adult parasitoid of Pyrilla perpusilla. It is a lepidopterous parasite used against sugarcane pyrilla.
• Predators used against the sugarcane wooly aphid include Chrysoperla carnea & Dipha aphidivora.
• Sugarcane setts filled with soil and with internal tissues eaten up are damaged by Termites.
• The Sugarcane mealybug is suspected to be a vector of ‘motling’ and ‘spike’ disease.
• Shriveling and drying of sugarcanes with reduced internodes is caused by Scale insects.

Non-Insect Pests

• Dusting of sulphur is recommended against Mites.
• Rodenticides include Zinc phosphide, Aluminum Phosphide, Sodium fluoro-acetate, ANTU (Alphanaphthyl thiourea), and Hydroxy coumarins (Warfarin).
• Acute rodenticides (single dose, quick-acting) include Zinc phosphide & Barium carbonate.
• Chronic rodenticides (multi-dose, slow-acting) include Hydroxy coumarins like Warfarin, Fumarin, and Tomarin.
• Chronic rodenticides are safer because they are less toxic to non-target species.
• Examples of acaricides include Sulphur 80 WP & Dicofol 18.5 EC.
• A snail has a thin spiral protective shell.
• Metaldehyde is used for the management of snails and slugs.

Stored Grain Pests

• The damaging stages of the Pulse beetle are grub and adult.
• The damaging stages of the Rice weevil are grub and adult.
• The Pulse beetle attacks crops both in the field and in storage.
• One 3g aluminum phosphide tablet releases one gram of phosphine gas.
• Fumigants used for stored grain pests include Methyl bromide, sulfuryl fluoride, and Phosphine.
• Pest infestation can be avoided if the moisture content is below 9%, except for the khapra beetle.
• Phosphine gas is liberated when an Aluminium Phosphide tablet reacts with moisture.

Match the pairs:

1. Webbing of grains: Rice moth
2. Irregular holes on the grains: Lesser grain borer
3. Circular exit holes: Pulse beetle
4. Khapra beetle: Dermistidae

Polyphagous Pests & General Objectives

• Aphids reproduce parthenogenetically and viviparously.
• A grasshopper completes one generation in a year.
• The site of oviposition for a grasshopper is in the soil.
• The damaging stages for the Surface grasshopper are nymph and adult.
• Metarhizium anisopliae is an entomophagous fungus used against sucking pests.
• Host plants for the white grub adult include Babul, Neem, and Ber.
• Beauveria bassiana is a fungal bio-agent used to control crop pests.
• Cultural control for white grub includes collecting beetles by shaking host trees (neem/babul/ber) at night and destroying them, collecting grubs during weeding, or flooding the fields.

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