Symptom-matching approach:
Match the specific symptom of flaring or rosetting of squares to each pest's feeding habit rather than recalling the answer directly. Spodoptera litura is a defoliator, chewing leaves, not squares. Helicoverpa armigera bores mainly into bolls and fruiting bodies, causing round holes, not flared squares. Earias vitella attacks shoots and small bolls, causing shoot wilting known as dead-hearts. Only the Pectinophora gossypiella, pink bollworm, larva feeds inside the square, causing the bracts to flare outward in a characteristic rosette symptom before the square drops, a diagnostic sign used specifically to identify pink bollworm infestation. This uniquely points to option 4.