Seasonal Incidence of Major Insect Pests of Soybean [Glycine Max (L.) Merrill] and Their Natural Enemies

Abstract

The present investigation titled “Seasonal incidence of some major insect pests of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] and their natural enemies” was conducted during the Kharif 2024-25 at the experimental field of the Department of Entomology, ICAR-National Soybean Research Institute, Indore, Madhya Pradesh (India). The study aimed to evaluate the seasonal incidence of major insect pests. Observation revealed that the population of tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura) peaked with 16.00 larvae/meter row length (l/mrl) in the 33rd Standard Meteorological Week (SMW), showing a significant positive correlation with minimum temperature (r = +0.56). The green semilooper (Chrysodeixis acuta) reached its maximum density (3.36 l/mrl) in the 34th SMW, positively correlated with maximum temperature (r = 0.53). Whereas peak infestation of the girdle beetle (Obereopsis brevis) and stem fly (Melanagromyza sojae) were recorded in the 37th SMW (3.72%) and 34th SMW (18.10%), respectively, with stem fly showing a significant negative correlation with minimum temperature (r = -0.55). Entomopathogenic fungal activity peaked in the 36th SMW (4.10 l/mrl), though no significant correlation with abiotic factors was observed. Spider population peaked at 1.42 spiders/mrl in the 40th SMW, showing a significant positive correlation with maximum temperature (r = +0.56). The study provides important insights for integrated pest management in soybean agroecosystems.

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References

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