Coimbatore:After observing the incident of attack of wooly aphids in sugarcane in Chithode area in nearby Erode district, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) today advised farmers not to panic as `natural enemies’ will destroy them.

A TNAU team, led by two professors from agricultural entomology department visited the sugarcane fields of a farmer Chinnasamy of Kumilamparappu in Chithode between Erode and Bhavani.

The team observed to note the presence of two predators – brown lacewings (micromus igorotus) and pyralid larvae (dipha aphidivora) in the colony of wooly aphid to the tune of two to four per leaf, an entomology department release said.

As these predators could control wooly aphids in 30-60 days, conservation of natural enemies by not resorting to spraying of insecticides was recommended.

Farmers are requested to look for natural enemies when they observed wooly aphids in sugarcane fields and not to panic.