(a) ldentify specimen E.
Specimen E;
(b) State four damages caused to crops by the specimen.
(c) Briefly describe its life cycle
(d)(i) Name the stage of development at which the specimen is most dangerous to crops.
(ii) Give one reason for your answer.
e) List three control measures of the specimen.
Explanation
(a) Specimen E is a caterpillar or stem borer.
(b) The damage caused to crops by the specimen are:
- lts larva chews off green leaves of plants thereby causing defoliation
- It destroys flowers, fruits as well as buds.
- It creates vents that serve as avenues for secondary infection
- It leads to a reduction in the quality of leaves.
(c) The life cycle of the specimen can be represented as; Egg \(\to\) Larva \(\to\) Pupa \(\to\) Adult. Its eggs are laid on the leaves and they hatch into destructive larva stage. After 10 days, the larva develops into docile pupa and After 2 weeks, the pupae develop into adults
(d)(i) The stage of development at which the specimen is most dangerous is the larval stage:
(ii) The reasons for my answer is that the larva has biting and chewing mouthparts which enable it to feed voraciously and destroy the vegetative parts of the plant within a short time.
(e) The measures that can be taken to control the specimen are:
- spraying with insecticides.
- mechanical control e.g. hand-picking.
- biological control e.g. by birds, beetles
- timely planting of crops. brewers dried grains.