Population dynamics of diamond backmoth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) on cabbage

Abstract

Studies on population dynamics of diamond backmoth, Piute/la xyloste/la (Linnaeus) on cabbage revealed tha't the pest population of Piute/la xylostel/a (Linnaeus) appeared from third week December which gradually increased and attained a peak of 8.9 larvae per plant during fourth week January. It indicated that the pest was more active during the month of January. Later on, the pest population declined gradually towards the maturity of the crop. Among the different weather parameters, evening relative humidity exhibited highly significant negative correlation (r=-0.6852) with P. xylostella. Whereas, remaining all the weather parameters showed non significant correlation with P. xylostella.