Question

Given below are two statements:

Statement (I): Mosquito blight of tea is caused by Helopeltis antonii
Statement (II): Mosquito blight of tea is caused by Heliothis zea

In light of the above statements choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below.

• A. Both statements I and statement II are correct
• B. Both statements I and statement II are incorrect
• C. Statement I is correct and statement II is incorrect
• D. Statement I is incorrect and statement II is correct

Hint:

Helopeltis damage causes characteristic "brown blight" symptoms on tea leaves, reducing both yield and quality.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Helopeltis antonii (Tea mosquito bug):
True cause of mosquito blight
Piercing
sucking mouthparts damage tender shoots
Heliothis zea (Corn earworm):
Lepidopteran pest of crops
Not associated with tea

Answer 2

Alternate approach - match pest to host/feeding damage rather than recalling the name directly:
Helopeltis antonii is a piercing-sucking bug whose feeding on tender tea shoots produces dark, sunken lesions resembling mosquito bite marks - exactly the symptom called "mosquito blight" - so this pest fits the disease name by its damage pattern.
Heliothis zea, in contrast, is a lepidopteran caterpillar (the corn earworm/bollworm) that chews foliage and bolls of field crops such as maize and cotton; it has no recorded association with tea and does not cause the characteristic blight symptom.
Because the damage symptom and host both point to Helopeltis antonii, Statement (I) is correct while Statement (II), naming an unrelated crop pest, is incorrect.