Pest mapping in bananas and plantains of India (PI)
Biointensive management of major insect pests of banana (PI)
Current External Projects:
Nil
A reference collection of insect pests of
banana, their natural enemies and other insects associated with banana
ecosystem has been built,maintained and augmented periodically with the
addition of specimens from different geographical locations.
Species composition of banana skippers and their
stage-specific natural enemies were documented for the first time from south
and northeastern Indian states.
Three banana leaf and fruit feeding
chrysomelids, namely, Basilepta subcostata (Eumolpinae), Bhamoina varipes
(Jacoby), and Sphaeroderma cruenta Prathapan & Kumari (Galerucinae,
Alticini), were documented from India.
COX1 sequencing was done for all the major and
minor banana pests, including Manatha albipes, Basilepta subcostata,
Erionota spp., Aleurolobus musae, and major mealybugs and scales.
Emerging pests like Manatha albipes Moore
and recent exotic invasive pests such as rugose spiralling whitefly (Aleurodicus
rugioperculatus Martin), grey pineapple mealybug (Dysmicoccus
neobrevipes Beardsley) and Jack Beardsley mealybug (Pseudococcus
jackbeardsleyi Gimpel & Miller) were documented on banana and their
natural enemies were recorded.
Faunal compositions of banana mites,
grasshoppers, hairy caterpillars, fruit mealybugs, root mealybugs and scales
and their parasitoids and predators, were authentically identified for the
first time, including many new records for banana.
A web-based identification aid to about 60
insect and mite pests of bananas and plantains in different parts of India was
constructed and hosted in NRCB’s website (URL: nrcb.res.in/album) to easy field
identification of banana pests by farmers and extension workers and updated
regularly.
Ernst Mayr Travel Grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, to visit the Natural History Museum, London, in July-August 2019
Travel grant from NSF, USA, in 2005 to attend the Ladybird Workshop held at the NMNH, Washington, DC.
Partial research grants from ABRS to study Coccinellidae collections at CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australia, in 2006 and 2008
B.S. Bhumannavar Award for Team Research, 2015 (instituted by the Society for Biocontrol Advancement, Bangalore)
Poorani, J., Anuradha, C., Thanigairaj, R. & Prashina Mol, P. 2024, Coccinellid predators of mealybugs infesting banana in South India, including a new species and a new record of Scymnus Kugelann (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), with notes on other natural enemies. Zootaxa 5419 (4): 525–544
Poorani, J., Anuradha, C., Kalleshwaraswamy,
C.M. et al. 2022. Manatha albipes Moore (Lepidoptera: Psychidae), an
emerging pest of banana and arecanut in South India, with notes on diagnosis,
biology, natural enemies and DNA sequence data. Phytoparasitica, 50: 101–115
Poorani, J. 2023. An illustrated guide to lady
beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part I. Tribe
Coccinellini. Zootaxa, 5332 (1): 1–307
Poorani, J. 2023. An illustrated guide to lady
beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part II. Tribe
Chilocorini. Zootaxa, 5378 (1): 1–108
Poorani, J. and Thanigairaj, R. 2019. Record of Asprothrips navsariensis Tyagi (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) as a pest of banana from Tamil Nadu, with notes on other thrips infesting banana. Indian Journal of Entomology , 81 (3): 434–438.
Poorani, J. , Padmanaban, B. and Thanigairaj, R. 2019. Natural enemies of banana lacewing bug, Stephanitis typica (Distant) in India, including first report of Anagrus sp. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) as its egg parasitoid. Munis Entomology & Zoology , 14 (1): 83–87.
Josephrajkumar, A., Mohan, C., Poorani, J. , Merin Babu, Daliyamol, Krishnakumar, V., Hegde, V. and Chowdappa, P. 2018. Discovery of a sooty mould scavenging beetle, Leiochrinus nilgirianus Kaszab (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) on coconut palms infested by the invasive rugose spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Phytoparasitica , 46 : 57–61.
Prathapan, K.D., Poorani, J. , Amritha Kumari, S., Anuradha, C., Padmanaban, B., Thanigairaj, R. 2019. Species composition and diagnoses of leaf- and fruit-scarring beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) infesting bananas and plantains (Zingiberales, Musaceae) in the Indian subcontinent. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 66 (2): 179–202.
Sharanabasappa, Kalleshwaraswamy, C.M., Poorani, J. , Maruthi, M.S., Pavithra, H.B. and Diraviam, J. 2019. Natural enemies of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), a recent invasive pest on maize in South India. Florida Entomologist 102 (3): 619–623.
Poorani, J. 2017. Stethorus spp. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) predatory on Schizotetranychus hindustanicus (Hirst) (Acari: Tetranychidae) from South India, including a new species and a new synonymy in Indian Stethorus . Zootaxa , 4277 (4), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4277.4.9J