Archives of Current Research International

A field experiment was conducted during the rabi seasons of 2019–20 and 2020–21 in Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh, India, to compare the trapping efficiency of a 125-W mercury-vapour (MV) lamp and a 15-W ultraviolet (UV) lamp when used as light sources in Jawahar light traps for monitoring major insect pests of vegetable crops. Comparative analysis of the trap catches revealed numerically higher catches with the 125-W mercury-vapour lamp for Helicoverpa armigera, Plusia orichalcea, Spodoptera litura, Earias vittella, Leucinodes orbonalis and Plutella xylostella. In contrast, the 15-W ultraviolet lamp produced numerically higher catches of Chrysodeixis chalcites, Aulacophora foveicollis, Dysdercus koenigii and Nezara viridula. Nevertheless, the differences in trap catches between the two light sources were statistically non-significant for all ten insect species, demonstrating that the lamps had broadly comparable trapping efficiencies. The findings indicate that the mercury-vapour lamp can be effectively employed in Jawahar light traps for the surveillance and management of lepidopteran insect pests. However, given the substantially greater electricity requirement of the 125-W mercury-vapour lamp compared with that of the 15-W ultraviolet lamp, the latter represents a more energy-efficient and economically viable option. The ultraviolet lamp may also serve as a practical alternative to the mercury-vapour lamp for monitoring insect pests belonging to the orders Coleoptera and Hemiptera. Overall, both light sources were found to be suitable for operating Jawahar light traps for insect-pest monitoring, surveillance and pest-management programmes, although the lower power consumption of the ultraviolet lamp provides a distinct operational advantage.