Abstract

In a study conducted in Kerala, India, in the years 1977-1982, 25 species of insects belonging to the Orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hemiptera were found on Paraserianthes falcataria, of which all except 6 were recorded for the first time on this host. They included leaf-feeders, sap-suckers and live-tree-borrers. The most serious pest was the bagworm, Pteroma plagiophleps, Hamp. (Psychidae) . Sporadic outbreaks of the leaf-feeding caterpillar, Eurema blanda silhetana, the bark-feeding hepialid sapling borrer, Sahyadrassus malabaricus and the wood-boring scolytid, Xyleborus fornicatus were recorded, but the damage was minor. Damage caused by other species was negligible