ISCA Journal of Biological Sciences _____ ______________________________ ______ __ _ _ ISCA J. Biological Sci. Vol. 1 ( 1 ), 80 - 82 , May (201 2 ) International Science Congress Association 80 Short Communication Spectrum of Insect Pest Complex of Soybean ( Glycine max (L) Merrill) at Lambapeepal Village in Kota Region , India Uttam Kumar, Sharma Pawan Kumar and Shrivastava Surabhi * Department of Zoology, Govt. College, Kota , Raj. , INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in (Received 10 th April 201 2 , revised 20 th April 201 2 , accepted 23 rd April 201 2 ) Abstract The field studies were carried out for identification of various insect pests of soybean at Lambapeepal village agriculture farm in Kota region. Study of insect pest complex was done from July 2010 to October 2010 by direct visual counting method. The inve stigations reveal that maximum population of green semilooper was observed on vegetative stage of Glycine max, while tobacco caterpillar was most frequent on flowering and pod stages. The order of frequency of pests at vegetative stage was green semilooper (1.2) � tobacco caterpillar (0.8) � grass hoppers (0.4) �, girdle beetle and Heliothis sp. (0.2 each) � white fly (0.1). The order of frequency of pests of flowering stage was, tobacco caterpillar (3.25) � green semilooper, Heliothis sp. and grass hopper (0.8 each) � girdle beetle (0.6) � white fly (0.4) � Bihar hairy caterpillar (0.3) � pollen feeder (0.2), while the frequency order at pod stages was tobacco caterpillar (2.75) � Heliothis sp. and grasshoppers (0.8 each) � girdle beetle and hairy caterpill ar (0.5 each) � pollen feeder (0.4) � white fly (0.2). Keywords : - Glycine Max, pest complex, direct visual counting. Introduction Soybean, Glycine max. (L.) Merrill was has been an important kharif crop in India. The most important products which are obtained from this crop are grains, oil, pulse, milk, curd, sweets, soya protein, neutrinugget, soya sauce etc. Soybean is also one of the important crops of Hadoti region. The farmers of Hadoti region are highly dependent on this crop as an immense source of economy. This crop is not so costly for poor who can easily use it as their economic source, food etc. The waste product from this crop is also an important fodder for domestic animals. Its seeds co ntain on an average 43.2%, 19.5% and 20.9% protein, fat and carbohydrate contents respectively Singh and Mittal 1 But there are many problems in the cultivation of soybean in India as all stages of this crop are prone to heavy infestation by pest complexe s Gangrade 2 . Sum common insect pest complex infesting soybean crops are Green Semilpoor, Tobacco Caterpillar, White fly, Girdle beetle etc reported by Kumawat 3 . Material and Methods The present study was done in Lambapeepal of Kota region for insect pest complex of Soybean in the year 2010. Ten plants at random were selected for the study of insect pest complex. Insect pests of different selected plants were counted through direct visual counting method. An aspirator was use d for collecting, fast moving and flying insects. Population of different insect pests was recorded at weekly interval during morning hours between 7.00 to 8.30 am, without disturbing the pest fauna. The insect pest complexes were identified with the help of entomological taxonomic keys. The larvae which were not identified were cultured till their adulthood. Result s and Discussion In the present investigation, it was observed that soybean crop was heavily attacked by a variety of insect pests throughout its growth stages. Maximum population of green semilooper was observed on vegetative stage of soybean while tobacco caterpillar was most frequent on flowering and pod stages. The order of frequency of vegetative stage was green semilooper (1.2) � tobacco c aterpillar (0.8) � grass hoppers (0.4) � girdle beetle and Heliothis sp. (0.2 each) � white fly (0.1). Bhatachaerjee 4 noticed incidence of the white fly Bemisia tabaci on soybean and reported that the pest thrived at high temperatures following premonsoon showers and infested the crop from two leaf stages throughout the growing period. In present study also, the white fly was frequent in all the stages of soybean plants ( t able - 1). The order of frequency of pests of flowering stage was, tobacco caterpillar (3.25) � green semilooper, Heliothis sp. and grasshoppers (0.8 each) � girdle beetle (0.6) � whitefly (0.4) � Bihar hairy caterpillar (0.3) � pollen feeder (0.2), While the frequency order at pod stage was tobacco caterpillar (2.75) � Heliothis sp. and grasshoppers (0.8) � girdle beetle and hairy caterpillar (0.5 each) � pollen feeder (0.4) � white fly (0.2). ISCA Journal of Biological Sciences _________________________________________________________ ISCA J. Biological Sci. Vol. 1(1), 80 - 82 , May (2012) International Science Congress Association 81 Table No. 1 Insect pest complex on different growth stages of soybean plants S.No. Name of Insect Average No. o f Insect pests per Plant of Glycine max . Vegetative Stage Flowering Stage Pod Stage 1 Green Semilpoor , Chrysodeixis acuta 1.2 0.8 0.4 2 Tobacco Caterpillar , Spodoptera litura 0.8 3.25 2.75 3 Bihar hairy Caterpillar , Diacrisia obliqua 0 0.3 0.5 4 Heliothis sp. 0.2 0.8 0.8 5 Girdle beetle , Oberea brevis 0.2 0.6 0.5 6 White fly , Bemisia tabaci 0.1 0.4 0.2 7 Pollen Feeder , (Oxycetonia Sp.) 0 0.2 0.4 8 Grasshoppers 0.4 0.8 0.8 Figure - 1 Average no. of insect pest at different growth stages of soybean plants According to Gangrade and Kapoor 5 Bihar hairy caterpillar Diacrisia obliqua has been found damaging soybean crop in certain parts of India, who also reported that the infestation began in localized areas of soybean field in early September and continued to increase until maturation of soybean seeds in pods in the month of October . The above findings favor the present investigation, where Bihar hairy caterpillar has been attacking the flowering and pod stages@ 0.3 and 0.5 per plant ( t able1). Genung and Green 6 reported that adult girdle beetle Oberea brevis emerge in June and July after hibernation and aestivation inside small tubes plugged on both ends, which were made in hollow stem of soybean plants. Present finding also meet with above observation where girdle beetle was frequent @0.2, 0.6 and 0.5 at vegetative, flowering and po d stages respectively. Hence many species of insect pests were reported during all the growth stages of soybean. Conclusion Through present findings it is concluded that soybean crop is heavily infested by various insect pests during its different growth stages like vegetative, flowering and pod stages .As maximum population of green semilooper infests its vegetative stage henc e it must be controlled at once. While tobacco caterpillar was maximum at flowering and pod stages so controlled measures must be applied during these stages . ISCA Journal of Biological Sciences _________________________________________________________ ISCA J. Biological Sci. Vol. 1(1), 80 - 82 , May (2012) International Science Congress Association 82 Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Prof. R. Swaminathan, Taxonomist, Deptt of Entomolog y, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur for unstinted co - operation in identification of insect pests. References 1. Singh H.B. , Soybean , Pulse Crops in India , (1970) 2. Gangrade G.A. , Assessment of effect on yield and quality of soybean caused by major arthropod pest , Terminals Technical Report on the project, J.N.K.V.V., Jabalpur , MP , 143 (1976) 3. Kumawat , Present scenario of insect pests of soybean in mewar - vagar region of rajasthan a nd their management Ph. D thesis submitted to Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (2007) 4. Bhattacharjee N.S. , Control of soybean Agronomy , Entomologist’s news letter , 6(4/5) , 36 (1976) 5. Gangrade G.A. and Kapoor K.N. , Outbreak and new records , Food and Agriculture organization Bulletin , F.A.O. 21(5) , 115 - 118 ( 1973) 6. Genung W.G. and Green V.E. , Some stem boring insects associated with soybean in Florida , Fla. Entom. , 48 , 9 - 33 (1965)