Pomegranate fruit borer (anar butterfly)
The anar butterfly’s caterpillar bores into the fruit and eats the arils from inside — the fruit looks fine until it rots and drops. Bagging beats spraying.
- Pest type
- Fruit-boring caterpillar
- Attacks
- Flowers & developing fruit
- Worst in
- Flowering to fruit development
- Main risk
- Hidden fruit boring; rot & drop
Overview
The pomegranate fruit borer, commonly called the "anar butterfly", is the most damaging pest of pomegranate fruit. The adult is a small butterfly that lays eggs on the flowers and developing fruit; the caterpillar bores into the fruit and feeds inside on the arils (the juicy seed sacs) and seeds.
From outside the fruit can look almost normal, marked only by a bore hole often plugged with frass, until the internal feeding and the rot that enters through the hole cause the fruit to discolour, rot and drop. Because the caterpillar is hidden inside the fruit, cover sprays are of limited use once it is in; the classic and highly effective defence is to bag each fruit, backed by sanitation (removing bored and dropped fruit) and treating the flowering–early-fruit stage before the caterpillar bores in.
How to identify it
- A bore hole on the fruit, often plugged with frass, sometimes with excreta oozing out — the fruit looking sound otherwise.
- On cutting a bored fruit, eaten arils and seeds inside, with a caterpillar and internal rot.
- Discoloured, rotting fruit that drops prematurely.
- Small butterflies around the flowering and fruiting plants during the egg-laying period.
The damage it does
- Bored fruit with the arils and seeds eaten from inside — direct loss of the marketable fruit.
- Rot entering through the bore hole, spreading inside and causing the fruit to rot and drop.
- Losses that show late, because the fruit looks intact until the internal damage and rot take hold.
- High proportional loss in an unprotected orchard, as each caterpillar spoils a whole fruit.
When to act
- Protect the fruit from flowering through early fruit development, before the caterpillar bores in — once inside, it is out of reach.
- Bag the fruit at the right early stage, and monitor for the butterflies and the first bore holes.
- Collect and destroy bored and dropped fruit continuously to break the cycle.
Organic & cultural control
- Bag each developing fruit with a paper or fruit-protection bag/net once it is past the early set — the classic, highly effective physical barrier against the borer.
- Collect and destroy all bored and dropped fruit (with the caterpillar inside) so it cannot continue the cycle.
- Spray neem (NSKE 5%) at flowering to deter egg-laying, and remove off-season flowers/fruit that carry the pest over (bahar regulation).
- Prune and keep the orchard clean and open, and destroy alternate host fruit nearby.
Chemical control
- Time sprays to the flowering and early-fruit stage, targeting eggs and young caterpillars before they bore in — CIB&RC-registered insecticides for pomegranate fruit borer, rotated by group.
- Combine with fruit bagging and sanitation; spraying alone, once caterpillars are inside the fruit, gives poor control.
- Observe the pre-harvest interval strictly on the fruit.
- Confirm the current recommendation and schedule for your area with your local KVK or horticulture department.
Crops most at risk
Where this problem is called out in our crop guides — open a crop for the full package of practices.
Frequently asked questions
My pomegranates have a hole and are rotting inside. What is it?
That is the pomegranate fruit borer, the "anar butterfly". Its caterpillar bores into the fruit and eats the arils and seeds from inside, and rot enters through the bore hole, so the fruit rots and drops while looking almost normal outside. Cut a bored fruit and you will find the caterpillar and eaten arils. Bagging the fruit is the classic defence.
How does fruit bagging help against the anar butterfly?
The butterfly lays on the flowers and young fruit and the caterpillar bores in. Covering each developing fruit with a paper bag or net once it is past early set puts a physical barrier the butterfly cannot lay through and the caterpillar cannot reach — so the fruit develops protected. It is the classic, highly effective control, especially combined with removing bored and dropped fruit.
Why doesn’t spraying alone control it?
Because once the caterpillar is inside the fruit, no surface spray reaches it, and the fruit looks fine until it is already spoiled within. Sprays only help if timed to the flowering and early-fruit stage against eggs and young caterpillars before they bore in. The reliable approach is bagging the fruit plus sanitation, with well-timed sprays as support.
Symptoms and control measures follow ICAR, KVK and state agricultural-university package-of-practices; any named chemical is a registered use. Always read the product label and confirm the dose for your crop and zone. editorial policy.