Natural Parasitism of Pomegranate Butterfly, Deudorix epijarbas Moore in Mid-Hill Regions of Solan and Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh

The pomegranate butterfly, Deudorix epijarbas Moore has in recent years gained much economic importance in the mid-hill· regions of Himachal Pradesh (Kakar et al., 1987; Prasad et al., 1987 and Thakur et al., 1988b). Sometimes, the damage is so severe that the whole fruit is ruined and it becomes unsuitable for consumption. Since chemical control of this pest is neither feasible nor economical (Kakar and Sharma, 1988), the present study was undertaken to find out the natural enemies of D. epijarbas and their natural parasitism in the mid-hill areas of Solan and Sirmaur districts in Himachal Pradesh, where pomegranate is grown as a wild form.