Author(s)

Moumouni Ousséni Sabi-Sabi¹, Souleymane Nacro^2,3*

¹Centre Universitaire Polytechnique de Dédougou, Institut des Sciences de l’Environnementet du Développement Rural (ISEDR), c/o Université de Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
²Fondation Fasobiocarburant, Léo, Burkina Faso.
³Institut de l’Environnementet de Recherches Agricoles, CREAF Kamboinsé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Jatropha curcas L., a biofuel tree, is attacked by several insect pests, including Pempelia spp. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). This insect pest feeds on the stem and the leaves of the plant and can inflict severe damage to the shrub. This is why we studied its biology. Pempelia spp. larvae were collected in J. curcas’ plantations in the Léo, Biéha, Silly and Niabouri communes in the Sissili province of Burkina Faso, West Africa and were bred inside transparent plastic boxes. Immerged adults were separated into boxes after pairing them and were bred until their death. The female deposits its eggs in batches on the apical parts of J. curcas. Newly laid eggs are white pale. The first instar larvae are tiny and white pale or yellow. The 2^nd instar larvae have a light green coloration, with longitudinal stripes. The 3^rd instar larvae are lightly green with dorsal longitudinal stripes. The 4^th instar larvae have a black head and a grey body. The 5^th instar larvae have a blackish brown head with a dark reddish or light reddish longitudinal body. The mean duration of an instar is 8 days. The pre-pupa stadium is a period during which the larvae surround themselves with a white web developed from their saliva secretion. The pupa lives within a dark red cocoon. Pempelia spp. adults are grey. Female adults have large abdomen whereas males show a cylindrical and slender abdomen. These findings are the first of their kind reported in Burkina Faso. They are discussed in this paper.

Pempelia spp., Life Cycle, Jatropha curcas, Burkina Faso

Sabi-Sabi, M. and Nacro, S. (2016) Some Biology Features of Pempelia spp. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): An Insect Pest of Jatropha curcas. Advances in Entomology, 4, 240-247. doi: 10.4236/ae.2016.44025.