Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition

Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds

Sweetpotato leaf folder (028)

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Photo 1. An unfolded leaf showing a caterpillar of Psara hipponalis which has made 'windows' in the leaf by eating all but the waxy layer.

Photo 2. Folded leaves and holes made in sweetpotato leaves by Psara hipponalis.

Photo 3. Adult Psara hipponalis.

Summary

  • Widespread distribution. Asia, Africa, Oceania. On sweetpotato, the main host, but also on weeds. An important pest.
  • Eggs laid on upper leaf surface; caterpillars, green with brown heads, fold the leaves, fastening edges with webbing. At first, they make 'windows' in the leaf; later, they make holes. Impact on yield unclear.
  • Natural enemies: parasitoid wasps.
  • Cultural control: plant far from infested crops, using healthy cuttings; weed, and remove 'volunteers' and wild Ipomoea; collect and burn trash after harvest.
  • Chemical control: PDPs: neem, derris, pyrethrum, or chilli; biopesticides - spinosad and Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis); or synthetic pyrethroids, but these will kill natural enemies.

Common Name

Sweetpotato leaf folder, green leaf folder

Scientific Name

Psara hipponalis; previously, Herpetogramma hipponalis. It is a moth of the Crambidae.

AUTHORS Helen Tsatsia & Grahame Jackson
Information from O'Sullivan J et al. (undated) Sweetpotato DiagNotes: A diagnostic key and information tool for sweetpotato problems. (https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/sweetpotato/key/Sweetpotato%20Diagnotes/Media/Html/FrontPage/FrontPage.htm); and from Amalin DM, Vasquez EA (1993) A handbook on Philippines sweet potato arthropod pests and the natural enemies. International Potato Center, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines. (http://www.sweetpotatoknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/A-handbook-on-Philiphine-Sweetpotato-Anthropod-Pests-and-their-Natural-Enemies.pdf). Photo 3 Paul Hebert, BIO/CSIRO, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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