Monolepta longitarsus Jal., Neculla pollinaria Baly (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera), Deporaus marginatus (Curculionoidea: Attelabidae), Amblyrhinus sp.
- Among several chrysomelid beetles attack cashew especially during post monsoon flushing period longitarsus and N. pollinaria are important defoliators.
- marginatus occurs occasionally on tender shoots and nursery plants.
- Since all other stages of these chrysomelid beetles remain inside the soil, only adult beetles are seen on cashew shoots.
Symptoms of damage
- Beetles of longitarsus appear abundantly especially on young trees and skeletonise the leaves and tender shoots which gradually dry up. When nursery seedlings are attacked, the entire seedlings dry up.
- N. pollinaria also attack the new flushes causing drying up of the shoots. Scrapping of the bark of tender shoots by the beetles appear as linear depressions.
- D. marginatus weevils remain on the underside of the leaves and scrape the leaf surface resulting in minute feeding holes which appear as ‘windowpanes’ on young leaves
Damage by Monolepta longitarsus