Sahyadrassus malabaricus (Moore) stem borer attacks on Trema orientalis L. Blume plant.

The stem borer, Sahyadrassus malabaricus (Moore) (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae) is a pest of several important forest trees. The distribution of the pest is limited to the Indian peninsula and there are no studies showing its existence outside this area. This study reports on the presence of pests in Indonesia and describes the character of their attacks on Trema orientalis L. Blume. The study was conducted on stands of T. orientalis on three cropping patterns; stands with mixed coffee (Coffea arabica L.), stands with mixed eggplant (Solanum betaceum Cav.), and pure stands. The magnitude of the incidence of attack was analyzed using analysis of variance while the distribution of attacked stands was analyzed using the nearest neighbor distance method. We concluded that the pattern of vertical distribution of attack points on individual stems tends to cluster at the base of the stem and the lower stem of the plant. Meanwhile, the distribution of the affected plants tends to be even. The presence of S. betaceum and C. arabica as mixed plants increased the incidence of stem borer attacks. We recommend against using complementary plants that role as alternative hosts for stem borer around T. orientalis stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]