UPHESC Assistant Professor Entomology PYQs

Concept: Ber fruit fly, Carpomyia vesuviana (Tephritidae), is the most destructive pest of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana).

1. Maggots feed inside the pulp, making fruits rot and drop; losses may reach 80–100%.
2. Virachola isocrates = anar (pomegranate) butterfly; Bactrocera spp. attack mango, guava, cucurbits.

Short trick: Ber → Carpomyia vesuviana.

Concept: Indian mustard is grown as a trap crop in cabbage/cauliflower against diamondback moth Plutella xylostella.

1. Recommended pattern: 2 rows of mustard after every 25 rows of cabbage (one row sown 15 days before and one 25 days after planting).
2. DBM prefers mustard for egg laying; the trap rows are sprayed or destroyed.

Short trick: Cabbage DBM → mustard trap (25:2).

Concept: Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is multivoltine.

1. Its life cycle takes only 3–5 weeks in warm weather, so it passes through many overlapping generations in a year (often 8–10 in the tropics).
2. Generation number varies with temperature and host availability, so no fixed small number fits.

Short trick: Fast life cycle + warm climate → many overlapping generations.

Concept: Lemon (citrus) butterfly, Papilio demoleus, belongs to Papilionidae (swallowtails).

1. Noctuidae = owlet moths; Jassidae (Cicadellidae) = leafhoppers; Coccidae = soft scales.

Short trick: Papilio → Papilionidae.

Concept: Early-instar caterpillars of the citrus (lemon) butterfly Papilio demoleus are dark brown with white patches – they resemble bird droppings (protective mimicry).

1. Later instars become green with an osmeterium (forked scent gland).
2. Leaf miner larvae live inside leaves; fruit-sucking moth larvae feed on weeds; borers live inside stems.

Short trick: Bird-dropping caterpillar on citrus → lemon butterfly.

Concept: In RBD the field is divided into homogeneous blocks; every block contains all treatments once.

1. Within each block the treatments are allotted to plots at random, and the randomisation is done afresh (independently) for every block.
2. Splitting plots is a feature of split-plot design.

Short trick: RBD: all treatments in every block, randomised afresh in each.

Concept: The term and concept of 'standard deviation' were introduced by Karl Pearson in 1893/94.

1. W.S. Gosset ('Student') gave the t-test; R.A. Fisher gave ANOVA and experimental designs; Galton gave regression and correlation concepts.

Short trick: Pearson → SD (1893) and correlation coefficient r.

Concept: Split-plot design is used for factorial experiments where one factor needs large plots and the factors are to be estimated with different precision.

1. Main-plot factor (irrigation, sowing date, tillage) is applied to large main plots – estimated with less precision.
2. Sub-plot factor (varieties, fertiliser doses) is applied to sub-plots – estimated with more precision, as is the interaction.

Short trick: Big-plot factor + unequal precision → split plot.

Concept: In a Latin square design the number of replications = number of treatments (t × t plots).

1. With fewer than 5 treatments, error degrees of freedom [(t–1)(t–2)] are too few (e.g. t = 4 gives only 6).
2. With more than 12 treatments, the square becomes too large (144+ plots) and heterogeneous.
3. So LSD is suitable only for about 5–12 treatments; CRD and RBD have no such restriction.

Short trick: LSD: 5 to 12 treatments.

Concept: Absolute measures (range, QD, MD, SD) carry the units of the data; relative measures are unit-free ratios.

1. Coefficient of variation CV = (SD / mean) × 100 – a relative measure used to compare variability of different series.
2. Quartile, mean and standard deviation are absolute measures.

Short trick: Coefficient = ratio = relative.