Abstract

The biology, infestation characteristics and impact of the psychid Pteroma plagiophleps, a newly emerging pest of Paraserianthes falcataria, was studied in Kerala, India. There were up to 5 generations/year each with a generation time of 10-11 weeks, but outbreaks resulting in heavy defoliation occurred only once or twice a year and were restricted to small patches in plantations. Repeated defoliation over 2. 5 years resulted in the death of 22 of trees and left 17 with severe damage. Host preference tests and infestation characteristics of Pteroma plagiophleps feeding on several unrelated tree families indicated 3 types of infestation: heavy infestation affecting a large number of trees of a particular species in a patch within a plantationheavyinfestation of isolated trees in natural areas leaving other trees of the same species in the vicinity unaffectedand sparse, unnoticeable infestation of several tree species. The results suggested that heavy infestations of P