Seasonal incidence of major insect pests of bamboo like leaf roller, Pyrausta coclesalis

A field study was conducted to study the seasonal incidence of bamboo leaf roller, Pyrausta coclesalis on bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris and its correlation with prevailing weather parameters during 2025-26 at AICRP on Agroforestry, College of Agriculture, Nagpur. Leaf damage was recorded on three randomly selected clumps at weekly intervals from 29th to the 40th Standard Meteorological Week (SMW), corresponding to the third week of July to the first week of October, 2025. Leaf roller incidence, expressed as percent leaf damage, was first recorded at 13.1 percent during the 29th SMW corresponding to the third week of July, 2025 and increased progressively throughout the monsoon period, and reached a peak of 23.4 percent during 36th SMW (first week of September), after which infestation declined gradually. Correlation analysis with weather parameters revealed that morning relative humidity had a significant positive influence on leaf damage (r = 0.758), whereas maximum temperature (r = −0.636) and evaporation (r = −0.679) exhibited significant negative correlations. Wind speed showed a negative but non-significant association (r = −0.595), whereas rainfall, rainy days, minimum temperature, evening relative humidity and bright sunshine hours were non-significantly correlated with leaf roller incidence. The results indicate that high humidity coupled with moderate temperature and low evaporation favour the buildup of bamboo leaf roller populations, with peak activity coinciding with the monsoon leaf-flush period. These findings are broadly consistent with earlier reports from central India and other regions, providing a basis for forecasting infestation periods and timing management interventions against bamboo leaf roller, Pyrausta coclesalis.