Important Tips on Chili Pests

Cayenne (sometimes inappropriately labelled as ‘cayenne pepper’ or `red pepper’) is an extremely pungent ground spice prepared by blending the small pungent chillies grown in East Africa, Japan, India, Mexico, Louisiana and some other areas, but not from Cayenne (French Guiana). Red pepper is sometimes regarded as identical with cayenne, but is, nevertheless, milder, being prepared mainly from the larger-fruited, moderately pungent capsicums from Turkey and some of the southern states of the USA.

Roussenova-Kondareva (1968) states that C. baccatum var. pendulum (syn. C. pendulum) crosses with C. annuum in cases where the former is the female parent, in which the F, hybrids are similar and usually occupy an intermediary position, but resembling more the female parent in certain characters. F, hybrids differed in a number of morphological and physiological features and could be divided into four groups; plants of female parent type; plants of male parent type; plants of an intermediary type; and plants representing a new form which were fully sterile. Male sterile forms were also obtained which are useful for breeding.

Flea beetles, Epitrix spp. and Systena blanch., Melsh., can do extensive damage. These jumping beetles are particularly damaging to young plants. Hornworms, Protoparce quinquemaculata (Haw.) and P. sexta (Joh.) devour the leaves of capsicums in northern America. The large green larvae have diagonal lines along the sides and a pronounced horn on the rear end. In small fields they can be controlled by hand-picking, but in large fields dusting or spraying with a suitable pesticide may be necessary. Fennah (1947) says that Phlegethontius sextus (Joh.) is a pest of capsicum in the West Indies. (This is a synonym for Protopace sexta Butl.)

Many cultivars exist and the ease with which those of the same species cross can be used for the breeding and selection of improved cultivars. With the discovery of cytoplasmically inherited male sterility (Peterson, 1958), hybrid F, seed can now be cheaply produced. High temperatures accentuate the sterile condition.

The adult weevil is about 3 mm long, black and sparsely covered with grey or yellowish hairs; it feeds on the leaves, blossom buds and tender pods. The presence of the weevil may be indicated by small pin-holes in blossom buds and pods in which the females have laid their eggs. The period from egg to adult in Cali fornia is 2 to 3 weeks and there are 5 to 8 generations per year. It is controlled by contact insecticides.

In commerce, however, the words ‘chillies’ and ‘capsicums’ are often used interchangeably and indiscriminately and this can lead to confusion over the characteristics of the material in question. For example, Japanese Santakas and Nigerian Funtuas possess a moderate degree of pungency associated with capsicums but in the trade they are frequently described as chillies.