Rugose spiraling whitefly, Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an invasive pest causing severe damage to several plant species. Surveys were conducted in the farmers’ orchards of 11 coastal districts of Bangladesh namely Patuakhali, Barguna, Barishal, Khulna, Bagherhat, Pirojpur, Jhalokathi, Bhola, Laxmipur, Noakhali and Cox’s Bazar to know the host range of rugose spiraling whitefly and its incidence and damage in coconut during July 2021 to June 2022. Results revealed that a total of 22 plant species from 16 families were recorded as hosts of A. rugioperculatus. Among the host plants 4 hosts were infested by A. rugioperculatus in which all the life stages such as egg spirals, nymphs and adults of whitefly were noticed whereas in other 18 host plants only the egg stages were observed. The highest incidence of whitefly egg spirals, nymphs and adults per leaflet of coconut was observed in September 2021 at Bagherhat followed by October, November and May 2022 while the lowest was in July 2021 at Cox’s Bazar followed by June, January, February 2022 and December 2021. The highest percent (97%) infested tree was recorded in Bagherhat district while the lowest percent infested tree (68%) was in Cox’s Bazar. The highest percent (96.23%) of infested fronds per tree were recorded in Bagherhat district and the lowest percent infested fronds per tree (67.23%) was in Cox’s Bazar. The highest percent (84%) of leaflet area occupied by this insect was recorded in Bagherhat and the lowest percent was in Cox’s Bazar (48%). SAARC J. Agric., 20(2): 183-197 (2022)

Bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis Haw. (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) is a polyphagous pest in Northern America and southern Australia, causing severe damage to several host plants. A study was conducted to record the host plants, damage extent, and morphometrics of bagworms in Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU) from 2015 to 2018. Results revealed a limited number of host plants for bagworm namely guava (Psidium guajava), arborvitae/juniper (Thuja standishii), rangan or jungles, geranium (Ixora grandiflora/Ixora coccinea), mussaenda (Mussaenda philippica), cropperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Ceylon), henna (Lawsonia inermis), mango (Mangifera indica), pomegranate (Punica granatum) and betel nut (Areca catechu). The length of tiny larvae, fully-grown larvae, pupa, adult winged male moths, and wingless adult maggot-like females was 1.02 mm, 24.8 mm, 14 mm, 15 mm, and 48 mm, respectively. The average length of the bag was 24.7 mm with a range of 21-28 mm, and the average breadth in the middle of the bag was 6.9 mm with a range of 6-8 mm. The highest number of larval cases per branch was found in guava (56), and the lowest was in copperleaf (8). The highest percent of leaf damage (86.23%) per plant was also observed in the guava plant, and the lowest percent of leaf damage (37.46%) was in copperleaf. The highest number of infested leaves and bags per leaf was observed in the lower stratum of the guava branch, while the lowest infestation was in the top stratum. The highest percentage of leaf area (30%) damage was recorded 72 hours after release (HAR), and the lowest percentage of leaf area (10%) damage was at 24 HAR in guava. The maximum amount of leaf was consumed by bagworm larva at 72 HAR and the minimum amount was consumed at 24 HAR in guava. The maximum leaf area (13.46 cm2) consumption was recorded at 72 HAR, while the minimum amount (3.42 cm2) was consumed at 24 HAR. No significant damage by T. ephemeraeformis was observed in the case of mango, pomegranate, and betel nut plants. J. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 48(1-2): 1-17, June-December 2022

French bean is an important vegetable in most tropical and subtropical countries and is a food source for humans and animals. A survey was carried out on the Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU) campus, Narsingdi, Sylhet, Hobigonj, and Mowlovibazar districts of Bangladesh to know the incidence pattern of insect pests of French bean from November 2016 to January 2017. Field screening of nine French bean varieties against major insect pests was conducted in the Regional Horticulture Research Centre, BARI, Shibpur, Narsingdi, from November 2017 to January 2018. Seven varieties viz., BARI Jharsheem-1, BARI Jharsheem-2, BARI Jharsheem-3, Sylhet local- 4, Sylhet local-5, Sylhet local- 6 and Sylhet local-7 were used as study materials to evaluate against major insect pests of French bean under natural field condition. Results revealed that black fungus gnat was first noticed on 13th December, 2016 and the prevalence continued upto the 12th January, 2017. The highest incidence (21/plant) of black fungus gnat was found in Habiganj and the lowest (9/plant) was on the PSTU campus. The highest number of black fungus gnats were captured at 38 DAS (89/trap) and the lowest number (56/trap) of black fungus gnats were at 28 DAS using a yellow sticky trap. The variety BARI Jharshim-3 had the highest population of Black fungus gnats, which indicated that the variety was highly susceptible to Black fungus gnats, while Sylhet local-7 had the lowest population of black fungus gnats indicating least susceptible to Black fungus gnats. Among all tested varieties, none showed complete resistance against black fungus gnats. J. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 49(1): 1-11, June 2023

Experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Farm of Patuakhali Science and Technology University to know the morphological characteristics of different mutants of mungbean and to find out tolerant/least susceptible mutant(s) against flea beetle, aphid and pod borer based on the reaction of insect pests to promising mutants of mungbean during the period from April to June, 2015. The mutant MBM-07(S)-2 was found to be the tallest (32.57 cm) with highest number of branches/plant (5.03), highest number of leaves/plant (11.06) among all mutants and check variety while MBM-07-Y-2 (23.40 cm) was the shortest plant height, MBM-656-51-2 had the lowest number of branches/plant (3.73), MBM-347-13 (7.03) had the lowest number of leaves/plant. The mutant MBM-427-87-3 had the highest number of pods (5.00) compared to other mutants but MBM-656-51-2 had the lowest number of pods/plant (3.09). Significantly the highest pod length and the highest number of seeds/pod were recorded in the mutant MBM-07-Y-1 (6.37 cm) while the lowest pod length (5.19 cm) was in MBM-80(LCAL) and lowest number of seeds/pod was in the mutant MBM-390-94-Y (5.34). Mutant MBM-347-13 had the lowest population of flea beetle (18.00) and pod borer (2.00) compared to all other mutants while the lowest number of aphid/plant was observed in mutant MBM-07-Y-1 (1.00). In case of infestation, the mutant MBM-347-13 had the lowest percentage of infestation (20.69%) by flea beetle, (3.18%) by pod borer but the lowest infestation by aphid (3.33%) was recorded in the mutant MBM-390-94-Y while the mutant MBM-427-87-3 had the highest percentage of plant infestation (37.80%) by flea beetle, pod damage (9.69%) by pod borer and variety BARI moog-6 had the highest percentage (34.45%) of plant infestation by aphid. Mutant MBM-347-13 was least susceptible to flea beetle and pod borer while mutant MBM-427-87-3 was highly susceptible to flea beetle and pod borer. However, mutant MBM-390-94-Yand MBM-07-Y-2 were less susceptible to aphid while BARI moog-6 and mutant MBM-427-87-3 were highly susceptible to aphid.     SAARC J. Agric., 20(1): 97-106 (2022)