First report of Bihar hairy caterpillar, Spilarctia obliqua Walker (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), infesting sweet basil in India.

The Bihar hairy caterpillar, Spilarctia obliqua, is a dreaded and sporadic pest on several cash crops in the Oriental region. The polyphagous feeding habit enables it to survive on a variety of crops. The group of hairy caterpillars of this study was found on young plants of the sweet basil. Young larvae feed gregariously on the under surface of the leaves later it feed solitary in nature. Damage symptoms, as skeletonization of the upper epidermis of the leaves, were observed. The identity of the pest species confirmed through morphological and molecular methods (No. MK491177). The phylogenetic analysis indicates the distribution of uniform populations of S. obliqua infesting soybean and sweet basil. The total life cycle was longest during winter (male, 68.67: female, 73.27 d) compared to Kharif season (male, 49.37; female, 53.74 d). The damage incidence ranged between 13.33–60% and 10–63.33% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The natural enemy populations Glyptapanteles obliquae (11%) and Carcelia sp (17%) were recorded. This is the first report of S. obliqua on sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum, in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]