SURVEY OF LEPIDOPTERAN PESTS OF RICE ORYZA SATIVA L. FROM NAGALAND

A field survey was carried out in the farmer?s field located at Chutsolie colony, Chumukedima, Nagaland, from July to November 2022 using light traps to study the incidence of lepidopteran pests occurring in rice, Oryza sativa L. The survey was conducted from the vegetative till harvesting stages of paddy. Fortnightly, observations of the lepidopteran pests were done and correlated with the weather parameters. During the survey, four lepidopteran pests, namely, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee), Leucania loreyi (Duponchel), Melanitis leda (Linnaeus), and Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) were observed. The highest peak population of C. medinalis (Guenee), M. leda (Linnaeus), and S. incertulas (Walker) were observed on the 37th standard mean week (SMW) (i.e., vegetative stage) whereas the highest population of L. loreyi on 41st SMW. (i.e., reproductive stage). The species M. leda constituted the highest population (75) and persisted in the field till the harvest, followed by S. incertulas (51), and C. medinalis (47). The species L. loreyi was the least in numbers (16). Among the species recorded, L. loreyi was the new record from Nagaland.. KEYWORDS :Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, Incidence, Leucania loreyi, Melanitis leda, Pests, Rice, Scirpophaga incertulas