A Nuclear Polyhedral Virus Disease Affecting the Larvae of Tiracola Plagiata Walk.

Abstract

A nuclear polyhedral virus of Tiracola plagiata was located at a plantation at Popondetta in Papua. The larvae are readily susceptible up to 18 days old at a virus concentration of 20,650 particles per ml. The incubation period was found to be up to eight days for 12-day-old larvae. From the evidence of field trials at a plantation near Lae, the virus is of limited use for the control of T.plagiata due to the prevailing climatic conditions and the preference of the larvae to feed on flush growth.