Observations on the survival of mature larvae and pest insects; pupae of cocoa [Theobroma cacao] pod borer Acrocercops cramerella

The wandering larvae were killed by ants (17.8%) and spiders (6.9%) whereas 58.9% of cocooned larvae or pupae were preyed upon by ants and 1.4% were found dead, covered with fungi. An observation on mortality of pupae was made during the recent drought season. It was found that 23.6% of pupae failed to emerge and 0.6% was parasitized by two species of pupal parasitoids. However, on two occasions pupation was observed occurring inside the infested pod. Apparently, the larvae failed to tunnel out from the pod due to dryness of the pod caused by the drought. This pupa also failed to emerge under laboratory condition