Nature of Damage

  • Caterpillars are nocturnal in nature and feeds on the bark of the host plant under a frass ribbon. 
  • It makes zig-zag galleries on the surface of either tree trunk or wider part of the primary branches (Fig. 1). 
  • It remains hidden inside the galleries formed with chewed wood particles and excreta of the larvae at the forking points on trunk and branches during the day. 
  • The webbed appearance of visible galleries on surface of the affected plant part is a sign of the pest damage