Insect pests of drumstick, (Moringa oleifera Lamk.)

Study conducted at UHS, Bagalkot, Karnataka brought to light 31 species of insect pests, ten species of pollinators, seven species of natural enemies, one species of ant associated with sucking insect and birds in drumstick ecosystem during the year 2012-13. They belonged to the orders Diptera (3 species), Lepidoptera (6 species), Coleoptera (11 species), Hemiptera (10 species), Hymenoptera (12 species), Mantodea (1 species), Orthoptera (3 species), Neuroptera (1 species). Among the different insecticides evaluated against drumstick pod fly, Emamectin benzoate 5 SG at 0.25 g/l was significantly superior recording lowest pod damage over untreated control which was on par with Spinosad 45 SC at 0.20 ml/l.