Major Pest of Citrus (Pummelo)
CITRUS RIND BORER
Scientific name: Prays endolemma, Diakonoff
In the Philippines, Citrus Rind Borer (CRB), Prays endolemma, Diakonoff is the most destructive insect pest of pummelos. The damage caused by this insect pest on pummelos was as high as 60-80%. The Citrus Rind Borer feeds on both flowers and fruits and completes its life cycle inside. Infestation is carried out by the larva boring on the fruit, which results in the swelling and development of galls on the fruit rind. During the early stages, extreme infestation leads to malformation and hardening of the pomelo fruit at maturity, thereby affecting the quality of the fruit. Feeding on flowers and freshly developed fruits by larvae led to the premature fall.
With dark brown markings, the adult CRB is usually grayish brown and measures around 4.75 to 0.69 mm for females and 4.05 to 0.605 mm for males. The eggs are dome-shaped, almost circular, cloudy white ,0.48mm to 0.03 in diameter and laid separately on the fruit surface of pummelo and to the adjacent leaf near the flower bud. CRB larvae remains inside the rind for its entire five instar stages until the fifth instar larvae (average length of 5.5 to 0.51mm) crawl out from the fruit to pupate. The larvae are light green, then turns into dark to light green dorsally and ventrally as they adult. Citrus rind borer pupa (average length to 4.5 to 0.5mm) is initially light green to green in color and turns to brown as it nears adult emergence. The adult CRB emerges from its pupal case 4 to 5 days after pupation.