Holotrichia disparilis explained

Holotrichia disparilis is a species of chafer found in Sri Lanka.^[1]

Biology

It is a major pest of Camellia sinensis particularly in nursery and seedling stages where they mainly attack roots. Disease symptoms are yellowed or dead leaves, reduced root system and finally dieback of the whole plant. White grubs mainly affect young tea plants. During dry weather, roots are infested with large number of grubs and leave calloused stumps.^{[2] [3]} They also feeds on the bark at soil level which can be seen as ring-barking of the stem. In Sri Lanka, damage occurs mainly during June to August or from November to December in north-eastern and south-western monsoonal zones. About 80-90% of grubs can be collected by hand picking method to control the pest attack.^[4]

External links

• Occurrence and distribution of entomopathogenic nematodes in Sri Lanka

Notes and References

1. Web site: The larval stages of chafer beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) occurring on tea plantations in Ceylon . 2021-07-11 . Spolia Zeylanica 1971 Vol.32 No.1 pp.91-96.
2. Web site: White grub: Holotrichia disparilis . 2021-07-11 . Plantwise Knowledge Bank.
3. Web site: Preliminary observations on susceptibility of tea clones to white grub, Holotrichia disparilis Arrow (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) attack . 2021-07-11 . Sri Lanka Journal of Tea Science 1988 Vol.57 No.2 pp.68-72 ref.2.
4. Book: Muraleedharan, N. . Tea . 1992 . Willson . K. C. . Clifford . M. N. . Pest control in Asia . http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-011-2326-6_12 . 2021-07-12 . Springer Netherlands . 375–412 . en . 10.1007/978-94-011-2326-6_12. 978-94-010-5027-2 .