Identification symptoms

  • Early instars of larvae bore unopened leaf buds and feeds on leaf tissue.
  • They also bore the panicles leading to drying up
  • Early instar larvae feed on the young seeds leading to empty capsules.
  • Late stage larvae bore the pseudostem and feed on central core of the stem resulting in drying of the terminal leaf
  • Shows characteristic 'dead heart' symptom.
  • Oozing out of frass material at the point of tunnelling
  • The incidence of this pest is noticed throughout the year but they occur in enormous number during  December-January, March-April, May-June and September-October
  • Pest abundance is synchronized with panicle production, fruit formation and new tiller production.