Entomology- ICAR JRF/SRF 2024

• Status of Indian Wildlife and Fauna:
• Statement (I) is true: The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is an omnivorous bird feeding on seeds, grains, and insects whose populations have declined rapidly due to urbanization, pesticide use, and lack of nesting sites, prompting nationwide conservation efforts (e.g., State Bird of Delhi, World Sparrow Day).
• Statement (II) is evaluated: Nilgai or Blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) is the largest Asian antelope. In the examination key, Statement II was marked incorrect because it is an antelope rather than a member of the domestic cattle/cow genus (Bos).
• Conclusion: Statement (I) is correct but Statement (II) is incorrect (Option 3).

• Oviposition and Parasitization of Cereal Stem Borers:
• Statement (I) is correct: The spotted stem borer (Chilo partellus) lays its flat, scale-like oval eggs in overlapping clusters/patches (resembling fish scales, 20–50 eggs per batch) on the underside of maize and sorghum leaves.
• Statement (II) is correct: Eggs of the pink stem borer (Sesamia inferens) laid beneath the leaf sheath are heavily parasitized by scelionid egg parasitoid wasps (genus Telenomus, family Scelionidae).
• Conclusion: Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are correct (Option 1).

• Major Sucking Pests of Cotton:
• Target Pests of Cotton:
• Aphis gossypii: The cotton aphid (melon aphid), a major pest causing crinkling and leaf curling and secreting honeydew.
• Phenacoccus solenopsis: The invasive cotton mealybug, causing devastating economic losses to Bt cotton across India.
• Other Aphids Listed:
• (A) Lipaphis erysimi: Mustard aphid, infests cruciferous crops.
• (D) Aphis craccivora: Cowpea aphid, infests pulses and legumes.
• Conclusion: Insects infesting cotton are (B) and (C) only (Option 2).

Correct option: (2) (B) and (C) only.

• Spodoptera frugiperda (Fall Armyworm) $\rightarrow$ (II) 2018: First reported invading maize fields in Shivamogga, Karnataka, in May 2018, rapidly spreading across the Indian subcontinent.
• Phenacoccus solenopsis (Cotton Mealybug) $\rightarrow$ (IV) 2006: Emerged as a severe invasive epidemic on Bt cotton across Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Punjab around 2006.
• Tuta absoluta (Tomato Leafminer / Pinworm) $\rightarrow$ (III) 2014: First detected infesting tomato crops in Pune, Maharashtra, in late 2014.
• Aleurodicus rugioperculatus (Rugose Spiralling Whitefly) $\rightarrow$ (I) 2016: First documented on coconut palms in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, and Palakkad, Kerala, in 2016.
• Correct Option: Option 2 ((A) - (II), (B) - (IV), (C) - (III), (D) - (I)).

• Yellow Stem Borer (Scirpophaga incertulas): An obligate monophagous pest of rice belonging to Crambidae/Pyralidae.
• Damage Symptoms:
• Dead Heart: Neonate larvae bore into the central stem and sever the vascular bundles and apical growing point during the vegetative stage, causing the central tiller to dry up and pull out easily.
• White Earhead (Whitehead): Damage caused during the flowering/reproductive stage, resulting in sterile, empty, upright white panicles.
• Other Pests: Nilaparvata lugens (BPH) causes "hopper burn"; Dicladispa armigera causes leaf windowing.
• Correct Option: Option 2 (Scirpophaga incertulas).