ABSTRACT
Insect pests of tea: caterpillars and other seasonal, occasional and minor pests Nalini C. Gnanapragasam, Former Deputy Director (Research), Tea Research Institute, Sri Lanka; currently Agricultural Tea Consultant - Malwatte Valley Plantations PLC, Sri Lanka
1 Introduction
2 Caterpillars and other seasonal pests
3 Sucking pests
4 Occasional and minor pests
5 Conclusion
6 Acknowledgements
7 References
This chapter is one of the two chapters providing a comprehensive review of insect pests of tea. The pests of tea can be divided into four categories:
• Perennial pests: Perennial pests are ideally adapted to a particular environment where they find a permanent enclave. They remain present in the tea bush and reach injurious population levels every year. They cause damage to the tea bush over varying periods with gradual crop losses leading to death of the tea bushes. Pests include the shot hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus Eichhoff, 1868), live wood tea termite (Glyptotermes dilatatus Bugnion and Popoff, 1910, Postelectrotermis militaris Desneux, 1904, Neotermes greeni Desneux, 1904) and pathogenic nematodes (Pratylenchus loosi Loof, 1960, Radopholus similis Cobb, 1893, Thorne 1949, Meloidogyne brevicauda Loos, 1953).
