Abstract:
A field experiment was carried out at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in Dhaka
from March to July 2022 with sticky traps to investigate the abundance of insects and
their effect on bitter gourd. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block
design (RCBD) with five replications and consisted of five treatments i.e. T
: Yellow
sticky trap, T
2
: Blue sticky trap, T
ii
3
: White sticky trap, T
4
: Red sticky trap, T
: and
control. Results showed that nine insect pest species belonging to nine families and five
orders infested the various growth stages of the bitter gourd crop. Of these, five species
namely aphid (Aphis craccivora), thrips (Thrips palmi), red pumpkin beetle
(Aulacophora foveicollis), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) and melon fruit fly
(Bactrocera cucurbitae) respectively caused 27.30%, 15.41%, 5.92%, 21.84% and
17.88% plant infestation. A total of nine species of insect were found as pollinators
belonging to seven families of four orders. Among the pollinators, bees (Apis cerana, A.
florea and A. dorsata) were most significantly highly abundant (52.43 %) compared to
other species (47.57%). Color sticky traps with high pollinator catches cause a decrease
in pollinator population densities in the experimental field. Of the various color sticky
traps tested, yellow color sticky traps attracted a significantly higher number of
pollinators with a mean population of 15.67. Among the treatments the maximum mean
catchments of aphids (258.66 per trap), whiteflies (32.84 per trap), thrips (103.04 per
trap), melon fruit fly (12.11 per trap) and red pumpkin beetle (6.22 per trap) were
recorded in yellow sticky trap (T
). The use of different sticky traps on bitter gourd
significantly influenced yield contributing characters and yield. Highest number of fruits
per plant (18.20), single fruit weight per plant (106.00 g), minimum fruit infestation by
number (10.99 %) and weight basis (10.98 %) and maximum fruit yield (18.38 t ha
1
)
were found with the treatment yellow color sticky traps. However, considering yield and
attraction of insect, T
(Blue sticky trap) also found effective for management of insect
pest on bitter gourd.
Description:
A Thesis
Submitted to Department of Entomology,
Faculty of Agriculture.
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University,
Dhaka-
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTERS OF SCIENCE (MS)
IN
ENTOMOLOGY
