JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED BIOLOGY 2022, Vol. 3, No. 1, 28 - 39 http://dx.doi.org/10.11594/jaab.03.01.04 E-ISSN: 2723-5106 How to cite: Sharma, S., Upadhayaya, S., & Tiwari, S. (2022). Biology and Integrated Management of Tobacco Caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fab.: A systematic review. Journal of Agriculture and Applied Biology, 3(1): 28 - 39. doi: 10.11594/jaab.03.01.04 Review Article Biology and integrated management of tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fab.: A systematic review Sushmita Sharma *1 , Sachin Upadhayaya 2 , Sundar Tiwari 1 1 Department of Entomology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan Nepal 2 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal Article history: Submitted 02 November 2021 Accepted 27 December 2021 Published 05 April 2022 Keywords: Host range Life cycle Rotting plants Trap crops Abstract Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura) has damaged in great extent in different cultivated crops. Mainly it affects solanaceous crops. It feeds on the leaves of the crop and crops seems as it is fed by the an- imals. In later stage it damages whole plant causing rotting of plant. Commercial farmers are normally relying on chemical pesticides. In- tegrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy is suggested as a best op- tion of pest management. Using respective trap crop of major crops has been found most effective method as trap has multiple ad- vantages for the small-scale farmers. Handpicking can be effectively used for the fourth and fifth instar of the larva. This systematic re- view aims to collect the general biology of tobacco caterpillar and re- lated species as well as various IPM measures of pest management. The details pest biology, ecology, host distribution and integrated pest management are reviewed systematically and presented in re- view section. Reviews were carried out citing different journal arti- cles, books, conference proceedings, thesis, reports, books sections etc. This review can be useful for the researchers, academicians and extension workers to develop an IPM protocol for the tobacco cater- pillar. *Corresponding author: E-mail: sushmitasharma533@gmail.com Introduction Wide range of cultivated crops (more than 112 species of crops) are affected by polypha- gous pest, Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura) worldwide (Ramaiah & Maheshwori, 2018). Meagher et al. (2008) reported that there are about 30 different species of genus Spodoptera worldwide. According to Taludker et al. (2018) have tobacco caterpillar (S. litura) is a devastating pest of cabbage, cauliflower and many other cultivated crops resulting a great loss in yield and quality similarly Kumar & Ray (2007) reported that tobacco caterpillar is main pest of tobacco, it also affects cole crops, cotton, solanaceous crops etc and some weed hosts most favored include alternanthera (alli- gator weed), Euphorbia, Echhornia, Ipomoea, Parthenium and Rumex.