Symptoms of damage:

• Young larvae feed on the epidermis of the leaves
• Older larvae come out at night and feed young plants by cutting their stems
• They also damage the tubers by eating away part of them

Identification of pest:

• Eggs: Creamy white, dome-shaped eggs, laid singly on lower surface of the leaves

• Larvae: Newly emerged young larva is yellow in colour. The full-grown larva is dark or dark brown with a plump and greasy body.

• Pupa: Dark brown pupae are found in earthen cells lying underground in the potato fields
• Adult: Dark with some grayish patches on the back and dark streaks on the forewings.

Management:

• Flood the infested fields
• Handpick and destroy the larvae in morning and evening hours on cracks and crevices in the field
• Plough the soil during summer months to expose larvae and pupae to avian predators
• Set up light trap @1/ha
• Pheromone traps @12/ha to attract male moths
• Spray insecticides like chlorpyriphos 20 EC @1 lit/ha or neem oil @ 3%