Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner (Homoptera:Aphididae) a Serious Pest of Sugarcane in Maharashtra and Attempts at its Management by Biological Means

Serious and unprecedented infestations by the sugarcane woolly aphid, Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner were witnessed on the leaves of 4·9 month old sugarcane crop in Kolhapur and Pune districts of Maharashtra during September-October, 2002. During surveys for natural enemies, seven predators were recorded in Kolhapur, of which Dipha?aphidivora (Meyrick) was observed to be the most promising. In Pune district, only Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) was recorded. Limited field releases of the coccinellid, Synonycha grandis (Thunberg) collected from the bamboo woolly aphids at Bangalore and the chrysopid, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) were made in a small area at Kolhapur. S. grandis adults and C. carnea eggs were recovered 2 to 3 weeks after release, indicating their survival in the field.