Elm bark beetle Scolytus kashmirensis is a key pest of elm nurseries in the social forestry ecosystem of Kashmir. The biological and morphological characters of this species were determined both in field and in the laboratory. The larvae remained inactive throughout the winter which resumed their activity from the third week of March. Pupation started from the first week of April and the first swarming adults appeared from the last week of April. After emergence, the adults fly to suitable trees and undergo maturation feeding for 8.4 (±0.68 SD) days and females laid 46 (±9.45 SD) eggs on an average. The eggs hatched after an incubation period of 11 -13 days. The five larval instars were distinguished from each other on the basis of the width of head capsule measurements. The larvae completed their development in 40 -46 days. The pupal stage lasted for 10 -20 days and finally adults emerge that lived for 45 -60 days. The single longitudinal maternal gallery measured 42.67 (±11.07 SD) mm (on average) long and the larval gallery was 43 (±10.96 SD) mm (on average) in length. The seasonal distribution of various life stages and the number of generations were also recorded.

The espousal of nanotechnology is a current come-up of the present revolution. As we know that the rose aphid, Macrosiphum rosae (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a key pest on rose plant in Kashmir Valley, India, it exhibits a worldwide distribution. In the present study, we have synthesized biologically silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) from Solanum lycopersicum and characterized them by UV-vis spectroscopy, TEM, and X-RD analysis. The experiment was performed by leaf dip method. Insecticidal solutions of different Ag NPs concentrations, namely, 200, 300, 400, and 500 ppm, were tested on M. rosae. For assessment purposes, leaves were treated with distilled water (used as control). Aphid mortality data revealed that the Ag NPs were effective at 500 ppm concentration. As the concentration and day’s treatment increased, the aphid mortality rate also increased. There were statistically significant differences in M. rosae mortality between concentrations by LSD at 5%. In wrapping up, the use of Ag NPs in pest control processes will be the most novel eco-friendly approach in the Kashmir Valley, India, in future.

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<p>The seasonal incidence of apple leaf miner<em> </em>(<em>Lyonetia clerkella </em>[L., 1758], Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae) was investigated in four districts of Kashmir valley from March 2015 to April 2016. The prevalence of infestation was found higher in Srinagar (70.6 %) and Bandipora (65.3 %) as compared to Pulwama (9.3 %) and Baramulla (6.6 %). Infestation  intensity was  found  at  its  peak  during  the  month of May (2015) in all the four districts. In Srinagar, the percent infestation intensity during May (2015) was found to be 58.69 % (± 11.46 SD), while as in Bandipora, Pulwama and Baramulla, it was found as 55.71 % (± 12.59 SD), 6.04 % (± 1.97 SD) and 4.27 % (± 1.12 SD) respectively. Infestation of intensity was observed to decline linearly from the first week of June (2015) and disappeared completely with the beginning of winter season. Further, seven generations of <em>L. clerkella</em> were found under laboratory conditions. The1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^thgenerations completed in 39, 40, 37, 39, 45 and 48 days respectively. However, final generation (7^th) was found relatively longer in duration, extended from the 4^th week of September (2015) till April of the following year (2016) for about 204 days. In general, the life cycle of <em>L. clerkella </em>is similar to those described for other leaf miner species.</p>

The bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are widely recognised as one of the most damaging group of forest pests. Entomopathogenic fungi have shown great potential for the management of some bark beetle species. The efficacy of three entomopathogenic fungi, namely, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato (Metchnikoff) Sorokin and Lecanicillium lecanii (Zimmerman) Zare and Gams was tested against the bark beetle Pityogenes scitus Blandford under the laboratory conditions. An insecticide – cyclone 505 EC, was also used as positive control in the experiment. Each fungal suspension contained 1.0×109 spores of fungi in 1 ml. In treated branches, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae caused higher percentage of mortalities, that is, 58.33% and 48%, respectively, after 10 days of treatment and 85% and 71%, respectively, after 20 days of treatment. In petri plate assay, B. bassiana, M. anisopliae and L. lecanii caused 100%, 100% and 73.33% of mortality respectively. The percentage of mortality caused by treated insecticide was 79.16%. The results obtained in the present study are promising; however, no recommendations concerning the potential use of these fungal pathogens in forest protection can be given, and further research studies are needed in this respect, especially under field conditions.