212 P. R. Shashank et al.
15 to 27 °C and there was a positive relationship
between the developmental rate and temperature.
The results provide the basis for forecasting the oc-
currence of the yellow peach moth in agroecosys-
tems. Bilapate and Talati ( 1978 ) revealed that the
males survived for 14.00 ± 3.80 days as compared
with 15.80 ± 2.50 days for females. The ratio of
males to females of the progeny ranged between
1:1 and 1:2. The rate of occurrence of the banded
adult form, C. punctiferalis varied between 1 and
5 % during different months. Kaneko (1978) ob-
served a clear abdominal constriction in female C.
punctiferalis that had already paired. This proved
a reliable indication of pairing and greatly facili-
tated the separation of virgin and paired females.
The constriction was apparent 45–60 min after
pairing. Kang et al. ( 2004 ) reported that moths
of the overwintered C. punctiferalis generation
emerged from May 20 to June 28 and reached to
50 % emergence on June 8–9 under emergence
cage. Attraction of the male moths of overwin-
tered generation to sex pheromone traps showed
that the date of 50 % catches to the traps was June
- Kuang et al. ( 2009 ) reported that, in China,
adults emerged mainly between 22.00–08:00 h.
The emergence rate was 92.22 %. The dates corre-
sponding to the emergence of 16, 50, and 84 % of
the total number of moths were in May 8, 11, and
15, respectively. The longevity of adults was sig-
nificantly affected by adult nutritional conditions.
Adults fed on water, 10 % honey solution, or 10 %
sugar and vinegar liquid survived significantly
longer than when they remain unfed. C. punc-
tiferalis males have hair pencils at the abdominal
end and thus can be differentiated from the other
sex. Mating occurs only in the dark after 7.30 PM
(Stanley et al. 2009 ).
Hybridization experiments with Conogethes
moths reared on castor and cardamom were con-
ducted under laboratory conditions. The mat-
ing experiments were conducted in single pair/
cage and multiple pairs (4 pairs/cage). In cages
where multiple pairs were enclosed, higher mat-
ing success was achieved. When the moths were
reared on “shifted” plants, no mating occurred al-
though the moths attempted to mate several times
(Shashank 2012 ), the sexes were reproductively
isolated.
Sex Ratio and Adult Longevity
Mean sex ratio worked out to be 1:1.095 (1:1.2)
male to female in C. punctiferalis (Sithanan-
tham and Subramaniam 1975 ; Bilapate and Ta-
lati 1977 ; Thyagaraj 2003 ). Life table studies
pin point the key factors in the management of
the pest (Moralesranous and Cote 1992 ). Adult
longevity studies clearly indicated no significant
difference between male and female moths. But
laboratory studies with artificial diet showed dif-
ferences in longevity between male and female,
i.e., female moths survived 2–3 days more than
the male (Sithanantham and Subramaniam 1975 ;
Shanuowr et al. 1993 ).Life Table
Life cycle of an insect varies with changing en-
vironmental conditions (Abraham 1965 ; Bilapate
and Talati 1978 ). Insect populations are primarily
controlled by weather conditions. Under labora-
tory conditions (28.0 ± 1.0 °C and 80.0 ± 5.0 %
RH), the incubation period lasted for a mean of
5.3 ± 0.49 days. Larval period 17.62 ± 4.88 days,
pupal period 8.81 ± 0.69 days and the mean male
and female longevity worked out to be 14.26 ± 3.29
and 15.29 ± 3.39 days, respectively, in Cono-
gethes species. Sex ratio was 1:1.3. The total life
cycle from egg to adult emergence required a
mean of 31.75 ± 10.16 days (Pruthi 1944 ; Young
and Shaw 1962 ). Under field conditions in carda-
mom plantations the incubation lasts 8.51 ± 0.65
days, larval period 25.49 ± 4.76 days, pupal pe-
riod 9.55 ± 1.12 days, and the total life cycle from
egg to adult emergence was 43.63 ± 11.23 days.
There was 8–10 days difference in the total num-
ber of days in a particular generation. However,
there will be still differences in the life cycle be-
tween generation to generation due to changed
environmental conditions.Seasonal Occurrence
Shoot and fruit borer, C. punctiferalis occurred
throughout the year on Cardamom in Western