
Rangaswamy MuniappanVirginia Tech | VT
Rangaswamy Muniappan
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Publications (162)
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is native to the neotropics and invaded Africa and Asia in 2016 and 2018, respectively, and Nepal in 2019. Even though it is a polyphagous pest, the population that reached Africa and Asia prefers maize. As native parasitoids and predators form the first line of de...
The fall army worm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera) is an invasive polyphagous pest that prefers maize crop in the newly invaded regions like Africa, Asia, Australasia, and some Pacific Islands and was recorded in Nepal in the year 2019. Surveys were conducted in the maize fields to collect various natural enemies for utilizatio...
The neotropical plant, Lantana camara L., introduced as an ornamental plant to several countries, has become an invasive weed. It was first reported from Nepal in 1848. About 50 countries have introduced natural enemies for suppression of the weed. India, Nepal’s neighboring country, initiated biological control of this weed in 1916 and reported th...
Fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J E Smtih) is a native of the neotropics and it has invaded Nigeria region of Africa in 2016 and reached India in May 2018. Since then it has spread to most of the South and Southeast Asian countries, Australia and recently reached New Zealand and some South Pacific islands. Even though FAW has many hosts...
The weed Parthenium hysterophorus L. was accidentally introduced to India in 1955 and from there it has spread to Bangladesh in 1988. A natural enemy of this weed, the leaf feeding beetle Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister was introduced to India in 1983 and it has fortuitously moved into Bangladesh. This communication reports on the first time findin...
The concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was introduced sixty years ago to curb the overuse of agricultural pesticides, whereby its simplest version (IPM 1.0) was aiming at reducing the frequency of applications. Gradually, agro-ecological principles such as biological control and habitat management were included in IPM 2.0. However, through...
Fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) is a polyphagous pest, native to North and South America and is invasive in Eurasia and Africa. Life cycle and morphometric studies with the invasive population of FAW in Nepal were conducted under laboratory conditions in Chitwan, Nepal. Gravid females laid an average of 156.25 eggs per egg ba...
The leaf-feeding beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister, one of the biocontrol agents against Parthenium hysterophorus L., having been established at several locations of Nepal. However, the damage to P. hysterophorus by the beetle has not been assessed quantitatively under different climatic conditions so far. The study was carried out at two loc...
Lentil is an old-world legume and grown in more than 70 countries. It is a major source of protein in plant-based diets and is often used to fix nitrogen in the soil as a rotational crop, especially with cereal crops. Canada, USA, and Australia are the major exporters of lentil. Around the globe, this crop faces various biotic and abiotic stresses....
Paracoccus marginatus, first described in 1992, is native to Mexico. Accidentally it started spreading in the Caribbean in 1995. About 2008, it was reported from the Indian subcontinent and several other countries in the South- and Southeast-Asia. This polyphagous insect infests plants belonging to c. 50 families. Carica papaya (Caricaceae, papaya)...
Paracoccus marginatus, first described in 1992, is native to Mexico. Accidentally it started spreading in the Caribbean in 1995. About 2008, it was reported from the Indian subcontinent and several other countries in the South-and Southeast-Asia. This polyphagous insect infests plants belonging to c. 50 families. Carica papaya (Caricaceae, papaya)...
Dosert locust is recognized globally as the most devastating of migratory insect pests. It has been recorded throughout the pre-historic as well as modem historical periods. Infestation by a swann of desert locusts has the ability to create havoc and cause a chain reaction with far reaching effects of famine and starvation. As per the available rec...
With increasing globalization, trade, and human movement, the rate of alien species introduction has increased all around the globe. In addition, climate change is thought to exacerbate the situation by allowing range expansion of invasive species into new areas. Predicting the distribution of invasive species under conditions of climate change is...
Background
Parthenium hysterophorus is a noxious invasive weed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Nepal. Among 11 species of biological control agents released to control P. hysterophorus in Ausrtalia, winter rust Puccina abrupta var. partheniicola arrived fortuitously and has established in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, nearly...
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an insect native to the tropical and subtropical Americas that has recently spread to Africa, where it predominately attacks maize, sorghum and other plant species. Biological control is an environmentally friendly way of combatting the pest and contributes to...
Gall inducers are widely used as biocontrol agents to suppress the vegetative and reproductive growth of invasive weeds. Procecidochares utilis Stone (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a gall forming fly that was released as a biocontrol agent against the noxious invasive weed Ageratina adenophora (Sprengel) R. King and H. Robinson (Asterales: Asteraceae)....
The effectiveness of the egg parasitoid Trichogrammatoidea armigera Nagaraja (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in controlling Heliocheilus albipunctella de Joannis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a major insect pest of pearl millet in the Sahel was assessed during two consecutive years in Niger on-station and on-farm conditions. We found that released T....
Efficacy of augmentative release of the parasitoid wasp Bracon hebetor against the pearl millet headminer
ABSTRACT: The yield losses in pearl millet, estimated to be about 85%, are mainly due to millet headminer, Heliocheilus albipunctella. This study is aimed at determining the status of this serious insect pest in the pearl millet production syst...
Modern food systems facilitate rapid dispersal of pests and pathogens through multiple pathways. The complexity of spread dynamics and data inadequacy make it challenging to model the phenomenon and also to prepare for emerging invasions. We present a generic framework to study the spatio-temporal spread of invasive species as a multi-scale propaga...
Modern food systems facilitate rapid dispersal of pests and pathogens through multiple pathways. The complexity of spread dynamics and data inadequacy make it challenging to model the phenomenon and also to prepare for emerging invasions. We present a generic framework to study the spatio-temporal spread of invasive species as a multi-scale propaga...
Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) in central Nepal is known for its rich biodiversity and the landscape is expected to provide corridors for species range shift in response to climate change. Environmental assessments have identified biological invasions and other anthropogenic activities as major threats to the biodiversity in the CHAL. One of th...
Biological control using egg parasitoids particularly from the genus Trichogramma and Telenomus remus is part of the IPM approach presently underway to control FAW in North and South America. The approach involves mass rearing and release of these egg parasitoids to control FAW. This guide is primarily intended for biological control practitioners...
This book contains 10 chapters addressing the economic analyses of integrated management of pests in crops, animals and humans. The economic evaluation that can identify which factors in the IPM system are most important in their impact on the comparison of costs and benefits are also discussed.
Heliocheilus albipunctella de Joannis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is one of the major insect pests of pearl millet in the Sahel. The native parasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), is currently being promoted for augmentative biological control of the pest in the Sahel. The current study was carried out to identify the right time...
This paper describes the current state of pests and diseases of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) and their management in Vietnam. Longan is the third most cultivated fruit crop and second major fruit crop exported from Vietnam. Brief descriptions of arthropod pests Eriophyes dimocarpi Kuang (Acari: Eriophyidae), Conogethes punctiferalis Guenée (Lep...
Parthenium hysterophorus L. is a globally significant environmental and agricultural weed that is rapidly spreading from its native range in the tropical Americas to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents. We analyzed temporal and spatial patterns of research done on this weed across the world. Research articles were accessed from onlin...
A field experiment was conducted during the 2016-17 mango cropping season in farmers' fields of Gazipur, Rajshahi and Chapainawabgonj districts of Bangladesh to find an effective bio-rational management option for controlling the mango hopper, Idioscopus nagpurensis (Pruthi) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). Randomized Complete Block Design was used incor...
The experiment was carried out in farmers' fields of Chaklarhat, Tunirhat, Panchagarh and Research Field of Horticulture Research Center, Bari, Gazipur from October 2017 to June 2018 to findan effective and suitable management approach against tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta. There was a total of ten treatments, viz., Treatment 1 = Application of...
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a major fruit crop throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world including Bangladesh. The Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major pest of mango causing both quantitative and qualitative losses as well as export barriers. We compared the efficacy and economic...
The rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica Stainton, an alternate host for the production of the parasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor Say, was reared on different diets, including pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] (Poales: Poaceae) flour only, and in combinations of flours of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (Poales: Poaceae), peanut (Arachis h...
Biological invasion is increasing worldwide and the management of invasive species is becoming an important priority for vegetation managers. Success of invasive species management depends on a thorough understanding of the biology of the organism in question and the effectiveness of current management efforts, in order to identify the best practic...
Trade and transport of goods is widely accepted as a primary pathway for the introduction and dispersal of invasive species. However, understanding commodity flows remains a challenge owing to its complex nature, unavailability of quality data, and lack of systematic modeling methods. A robust network-based approach is proposed to model seasonal fl...
Soyabean, because of its importance in food security and wide diversity of uses in industrial applications, is one of the world's most important crops. There are a number of abiotic and biotic constraints that threaten soyabean production. Soyabean pests are major biotic constraints limiting soyabean production and quality. Crop losses to animal pe...
Efficacy of augmentative release of the parasitoid wasp Bracon hebetor against the pearl millet headminer ABSTRACT: The yield losses in pearl millet, estimated to be about 85%, are mainly due to millet headminer, Heliocheilus albipunctella. This study is aimed at determining the status of this serious insect pest in the pearl millet production syst...
Among the various potential vegetables, tomato is one of the high value crops, with growing market demand and higher level of return per hector. South American Tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta is one of the main constrains in tomato production in Nepal. Field experiments were conducted from June to October 2017 to determine the attractive action of...
A study was carried out to document occurrence of Tuta absoluta and current management practices adopted by farmers in Lalitpur district (Lele VDC) where a total of 70 respondents were interviewed using random sampling method. The study comprises three target groups viz. structured questionnaire survey of farmers growing tomatoes (50); structured q...
Surveys of fall army worm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. S. Smith) on maize and sorghum in Niger revealed the occurrence of egg parasitoids (Trichogrammatoidea sp., Trichogramma sp., and Telenomus sp.), egg-larval parasitoids (Chelonus sp.), and larval parasitoids (Cotesia sp., and Charops sp.).
Integrated management of tropical rice pests
Farmers in Niger are vulnerable to high millet yield losses due to the millet head miner, Heliocheilus albipunctella De Joannis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), for which pest control options are limited. Researchers have developed a procedure to multiply and spread an augmentative biological control agent Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)...
Vegetable farming has become a profitable business in terai, mid-hills and other subtropical belts of Nepal. Lele, VDC of Lalitpur district and Kushadevi, VDC of kavre district are one of the commercial vegetable pockets in the Bagmati zone of central Nepal. A study was carried out from July to December, 2017 in order to collect the information reg...
The study was conducted in Lele of Lalitpur district during July to December 2017 to evaluate the carbon sources of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestations (ASD) in tomato. A research experiment in the field was conducted using different treatments against soil borne diseases and weeds in the field of tomato in Lele of Lalitpur district. There were six trea...
Plant protection is an interdisciplinary area that historically involved agronomy, plant breeding, entomology, plant pathology, statistics, and weed science. After World War II, pesticide development took precedence and chemistry, physics, and engineering were favored. This led to excessive use of synthetic pesticides, causing pest resistance to in...
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable crops, offering great income and employment generation potential to small-holders in Nepal. Production of this crop is limited by several biotic and abiotic factors. Among several pests attacking tomato, the invasive leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) has become v...
Rice is a staple food and the foundation of national stability and economic growth in many developing countries. Rice pests are major biotic constraints limiting rice production globally. This review discusses the biology, ecology, global distribution and plant damage and yield losses caused by insect pests, plant diseases, nematodes, rats and weed...
The global population, by 2050, is estimated to reach nine billion people. Studies show that during the years 2000–2010, worldwide crop production increased at a rate of 23 % while the number of harvested acres increased at only 9 %. In order for supply to meet the growing demand, farmers need to maximize their yield. In fact, crop yields have fall...
Onion is one of the major commercial vegetables in India, and the main limiting factor for higher production of this crop is the incidence of pests and diseases. To reduce the pesticide treadmill, efforts were made to evaluate five different onion IPM modules at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India. These include the bio-intensive module com...
This chapter describes the contrasting differences in the evolution of integrated pest management in developed and developing countries and the current status of IPM in developed countries relative to that of the developing countries. IPM in developed countries that has evolved over the past 50 years has digressed and now emphasizes control with th...
Over- and misuse of chemical pesticides in vegetables in Nepal have brought about a renewed interest in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) both from public and research sectors. Through the support of the USAID-funded Integrated Pest Management Innovation Lab (IPM IL), full season IPM packages for important vegetable crops; tomato, cucumber and cauli...
It is an edited book with chapters written by multi-disciplinary specialists in their specific subject areas. It covers development of IPM components and packaging them for individual vegetable crops specifically targeted to tropical countries. Scientific background for IPM components or tactics will be included. There will be case studies of IPM p...
The World Food Summit of 1966 defined ”food security” as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Food insecurity is part of a continuum that includes hunger (food deprivation), malnutrition (deficiencies, imbalances, or excess of nutrients), and famine. The...
Sap-sucking insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha and Thysanoptera: Thripidae) collected in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi were identified. From 28 samples collected on 9 crop and ornamental host-plant species, 21 species of sap-sucking insects were identified, 12 (57%) of which were new island distribution records. This suggests that the Indonesian insec...
Farmers in Tamil Nadu, India began to report that a new pest was affecting papaya (Carica papaya L.) in 2006. Numerous applications of insecticide were made, but papaya losses were severe and the pest spread to several other crops. The pest was identified in 2008 as the papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemipter...
Cabbage production is constrained by myriad of
pest infestations reducing the farmers’ profit margin
substantially. The objectives of the present study was to
evaluate the effect of different land preparation methods,
reduce the use of conventional toxic pesticides in the
management of cabbage pests, and make comparison of
recorded parameters to de...
Efforts made to evaluate the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) module for shallots through Farmer's Participatory Approach in Tamil Nadu, India, are discussed. The shallot IPM module with special emphasis on nonchemical management components viz., healthy seed bulb selection, seed treatment with bio-pesticides, soil application of bio-pesticides and...
An invasive pest of South American origin, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a devastating pest of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), is reported for the first time in Senegal in 2012. It was first reported in Spain in 2006 and since then it has spread to most of Europe and Mediterranean region. Its occurrence in Senegal is a serio...
The current known distribution of Cycad Aulacaspis Scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), its impact on natural populations of cycads (Boweniaceae, Cycadaceae, Strangeriaceae and Zamiaceae), and prospects for biological control are discussed.
Chromolaena odorata (L.) King & Robinson (Asteraceae) is one of the most serious invasive weeds in Guam and on other Micronesian Islands. For biological control of this weed, a moth, Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata Rego Barros (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) from India and Trinidad and a gall fly, Cecidochares connexa (Macquart) (Diptera: Tephritidae) from In...
The Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP), funded by USAID, has been managed by Virginia Tech since 1993 through a consortium of U.S. universities including Penn State University, Ohio State University, Clemson University, Virginia State University, Michigan State University, Washington State University, Unive...
Cycad aulacaspis scale (Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)) is native to Thailand and Vietnam. Since the early 1990s it has been spreading around the world due to the trade in cycad plants for ornamental use. Infestation by this scale can kill cycads in only a few months. Its accidental introduction to Florida endangered the orna...
Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the economy of tropical Asia, but arthropod pests are major constraints to production. This book consolidates the research on pests of South and Southeast Asia, providing useful data for the establishment of sustainable pest management programs. It covers the main arthropod pests of twenty five major crops, with...
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This book presents detailed descriptions of pests of horticultural crops in tropical Asia, their taxonomy, latin and common names, their host ranges, the kinds of damage they cause and their natural enemies. Excellent photography of the pest species and their damage are also provided.
This study documents new distribution records of Sternorrhyncha (Hemiptera) in Mali and Senegal. The mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) found were Ferrisia virgata Cockerell (striped mealybug), Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (cassava mealybug), and Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (solenopsis mealybug). Also recorded was a giant mealybug, Icerya sp. (Mo...
Several sap-sucking insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) of neotropical origin have been accidentally introduced to Southeast Asia and West Africa in recent years, including the mealybugs Paracoccus marginatus Williams & Granara de Willink, Phenacoccus madeirensis Green, Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, Pseudococc...
Papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a native to Mexico. It was first described from the specimens collected on cassava in 1955. By 2002, it has spread to most countries in the Caribbean including a few countries in South America. Between 2002 and 2006 it invaded Guam, Palau, Hawaiian Islands and Tinian in the Northe...
The papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is recorded from the Oriental Region for the first time, where it was found in Indonesia (Java) and India (Tamil Nadu) in 2008. Papaya mealybug is a polyphagous pest that damages many tropical crops. A native of Central America, it spread to the...
The mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), attacks ornamental and fruit crops in the Mariana Islands. Insecticides cannot penetrate the heavy layers of wax that protect the insect's body. We surveyed the mealybug's locally recruited natural enemies and their effects on its population on Guam, Rota, Saipan, and Tinian...