UPHESC Assistant Professor Entomology PYQs

Concept: Rice weevil is Sitophilus oryzae (Curculionidae) – a primary internal feeder of rice, wheat, maize.

1. Sitophilus granarius = granary weevil (wingless, temperate).
2. Sitotroga cerealella = Angoumois grain moth; Aspidiotus hartii = yam scale.

Short trick: oryzae = Oryza (rice) → rice weevil.

Concept: Insects, moulds and seed respiration increase sharply above ~10–12% moisture.

1. For long-term safe storage, seeds should be dried to below 10% moisture (8–10%; for sealed containers even lower).
2. At 12–15% grain can be kept only for short periods; most stored-grain insects cannot multiply below ~9–10% moisture.

Short trick: Long-term seed store → moisture < 10%.

Concept: Angoumois grain moth is Sitotroga cerealella (Gelechiidae) – an internal feeder of paddy, maize, wheat; named after Angoumois province of France.

1. Corcyra cephalonica = rice moth; Ephestia cautella = almond/fig moth; Plodia interpunctella = Indian meal moth (all Pyralidae, external feeders).

Short trick: Sitotroga cerealella – 'cereal' → grain moth.

Concept: Chemosterilants reduce rodent fertility instead of killing.

1. Furadantin (nitrofurantoin) has been used as an antifertility (chemosterilant) agent for rats; others include α-chlorohydrin and mestranol.
2. Phosphine – fumigant (from aluminium/zinc phosphide); bromadiolone – second-generation anticoagulant; barium carbonate – acute rodenticide.

Short trick: Kills = rodenticide; stops breeding = chemosterilant (furadantin, α-chlorohydrin).

Concept: Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium (Dermestidae), is adapted to hot, dry conditions.

1. It thrives at 33–37 °C and can develop at very low humidity (grain moisture as low as 2%); larvae can enter diapause for years.
2. It is a serious quarantine pest in NW India (Rajasthan, Punjab); rice weevil and grain moth need moister grain.

Short trick: Khapra = hot & dry (Rajasthan) pest.

Concept: Pulse beetle Callosobruchus chinensis (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) has long antennae with saw-tooth-like segments – serrate (pectinate in males).

1. Lamellate antennae = scarab beetles (white grub); flabellate = some beetles (e.g. Rhipiceridae); capitate = butterflies, red flour beetle-type clubs.
2. Serrate antenna is a key character used to identify bruchids in stored pulses.

Short trick: Pulse beetle → saw-like (serrate) antennae.

Concept: Khapra beetle Trogoderma granarium belongs to Dermestidae (skin/larder beetles).

1. Only the hairy larvae (grubs) damage grain; adults do not feed.
2. Curculionidae = weevils (Sitophilus); Tenebrionidae = flour beetles (Tribolium).

Short trick: Hairy grub, dry places → Dermestidae.

Concept: Mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori belongs to Bombycidae (Lepidoptera).

1. Non-mulberry silkworms – tasar (Antheraea mylitta), muga (A. assamensis), eri (Samia ricini) – belong to Saturniidae.
2. Formicidae = ants; Tortricidae = leaf-roller moths.

Short trick: Bombyx → Bombycidae; tasar/muga/eri → Saturniidae.

Concept: Bee venom (apitoxin) contains melittin, apamin, phospholipase A2 etc. and is used in apitherapy.

1. Its classical and most cited medical use is in treating rheumatism and arthritis (joint pain).
2. Honey and propolis are used for wounds/ulcers and cough – not venom.

Short trick: Bee sting therapy → rheumatism/arthritis.

Concept: Moriculture = cultivation of mulberry (Morus spp.) to produce leaves for silkworm rearing.

1. Sericulture = moriculture + silkworm rearing + reeling.
2. Lac culture = rearing lac insect Kerria lacca; apiculture = beekeeping.

Short trick: Morus → moriculture.

Concept: Worker honey bees have four pairs of wax glands on the ventral side (sternites) of abdominal segments 4 to 7.

1. Wax is secreted as thin scales in 'wax pockets' when workers are about 12–18 days old.
2. Queens and drones lack functional wax glands.

Short trick: 4 pairs of wax glands on segments 4–7.

Concept: Royal jelly is secreted by hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of nurse bees and fed to queen larvae.

1. Besides water (~60–70%), its main constituent is protein (major royal jelly proteins, about 12–15% fresh, ~30–40% of dry matter).
2. Sugars (10–16%) and lipids (3–6%, mainly 10-HDA) are present in lesser amounts.
3. It is the high-protein 'queen food'.

Short trick: Royal jelly = protein-rich queen food.

Concept: Floral fidelity (flower constancy) is the tendency of a forager bee to keep visiting flowers of the same species while that source lasts.

1. It makes honey bees efficient pollinators – pollen is carried to flowers of the same species.
2. Bee pasture/bee forage = the flora providing nectar and pollen to bees.

Short trick: Fidelity = loyalty to one flower species.

Concept: Saprophagous (scavenger) insects feed on dead and decaying organic matter – plant or animal.

1. Examples: blow fly and flesh fly maggots, carrion and burying beetles, dung beetles.
2. Carnivores/insectivores eat living animals/insects; phytophagous insects feed on living plants.

Short trick: Sapro = rotten → saprophagous.

Concept: Pebrine is a microsporidian disease of the silkworm Bombyx mori, caused by Nosema bombycis.

1. It is transmitted transovarially (mother to egg) and orally; it devastated the French silk industry and was studied by Louis Pasteur (1865–70).
2. Control: mother-moth examination (Pasteur's method) and disease-free layings (DFLs).

Short trick: Pebrine – pepper-like black spots – silkworm – Pasteur.

Concept: A soil injector (soil injecting gun) is a hand pump whose lance ends in a pointed hollow probe that is pushed into the soil.

1. It delivers measured doses of soil fumigants/nematicides (e.g. against nematodes, termites, soil insects) below the surface.
2. Smoke generators, mist blowers and spray blowers apply chemicals into air/foliage, not into soil.

Short trick: Lance into soil → soil injector.

Concept: The Electrodyn sprayer is an electrostatic sprayer: droplets are electrically charged and attracted to the plant (earthed target).

1. Charged droplets curve around leaves and deposit on both upper and lower surfaces – the 'wrap-around effect'.
2. This gives better coverage with less drift and very low volume; ordinary hydraulic/pneumatic sprayers lack this effect.

Short trick: Charge → attraction → wrap-around (Electrodyn).

Concept: Low-volume (high-concentration) spraying needs very fine droplets carried by a strong air blast.

1. Such sprayers – mist blowers, power knapsack sprayers, air-blast sprayers – are driven by engines (power machinery).
2. Hand compression, foot and rocker pumps are manual high-volume hydraulic sprayers.

Short trick: Low volume, fine mist → engine-driven (power) sprayer.

Concept: A duster consists of a hopper (container for dust), an agitator, a feed/metering device, a blower/fan and a delivery tube.

1. The hopper of a duster corresponds to the tank of a sprayer.
2. Pressure chamber and nozzle are sprayer parts.

Short trick: Sprayer: tank; Duster: hopper.

Concept: Droplets are classified by volume median diameter (VMD).

1. Aerosol: 0.1–50 µm; mist: 50–100 µm; fine spray: 100–250 µm; medium/coarse spray: >250 µm.
2. Aerosols are used for space treatment (mosquitoes, flies, warehouses).

Short trick: Aerosol < 50 < mist < 100 < fine spray.