Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Phenacoccus saccharifolii (Green) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) on sugarcane in Tamil Nadu, India


Affiliations
1 Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
2 Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
3 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India, India
 

In this study, we report Phenacoccus saccharifolii (green) on sugarcane in Tamil Nadu, India, though an earlier unre­ported isolated occurrence was observed by us in the farmers’ fields at Pugalur, Tamil Nadu. This pest has now become a major threat to sugarcane cultivation across the state as it can often kill the infested canes with or without the association of the fungal disease, pokkah boeng. Field observations revealed that the ratoon crop was affected more than the plant crop in the same locality. This species was found in large colonies, primarily between the –2 and +1 leaf of the sugarcane plant and hence, named as crown mealybug. Infestation leads to severe mottling in the leaf whorl and death of the central shoot. To the best of our knowledge, there are no earlier studies on the occurrence of this mealybug on Saccharum spontaneum L. Well-deve­loped colonies showed high activity of three encyrtid para­sitoids, viz. Aenasius phenococci (Ashmead), Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) and Leptomastix dactylopii Howard in the areas surveyed

Keywords

Encyrtid parasitoids, fungal disease, infestation, Phenacoccus saccharifolii, Saccharum spontaneum, sugar-cane.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • David, H., Easwaramoorthy, S. and Jayanthi, R., Sugarcane Ento-mology in India, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, 1986, p. 564.

  • Shukla, S. K., Sharma, L., Awasthi, S. K. and Pathak, A. D., Sugarcane in India: Package of Practices for Different Agroclimatic Zones, ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, 2017, p. 64.

  • Joshi, A. S. and Viraktamath, C. A., The sugarcane woolly aphid, Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner (Hemiptera: Aphididae): its biol-ogy, pest status and control. Curr. Sci., 2004, 87(3), 307–316.

  • Sivaraman, K. et al., Sustainability of sugarcane productivity in a long-term organic production system vis-à-vis conventional system. J. Sugarcane Res., 2013, 3(2), 130–140.

  • Srikanth, J., Singaravelu, B. and Kurup, N. K., Natural control of woolly aphid by Encarsia flavoscutellum prevents yield and quality loss in sugarcane. J. Sugarcane Res., 2012, 2(1), 64–68.

  • Basu, A. N. and Banerjee, S. N., Aphids of economic plants of West Bengal. Indian Agric., 1958, 2, 89–112.

  • Jayanthi, R., Mealybugs. In Sugarcane Entomology in India (eds David, H., Easwaramoorthy, S. and Jayanthi, R.), Sugarcane Breed-ing Institute, Coimbatore, 1986, pp. 259–276.

  • Vennila, S. et al., Biology of the mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis on cotton in the laboratory. J. Insect Sci., 2010, 10, 1–9.

  • Satpathy, S., Gotyal, B. S. and Krishnan, S., First report of cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on cultivated jute (Cor-chorus olitorius L.) in India. Entomol. Gen., 2016, 36, 55–61.

  • Maruthadurai, R. and Singh, N. P., First report of invasive mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley infesting cashew from Goa, India. Phytoparasitica, 2015, 1, 121–124.

  • Shylesha, A. N. and Joshi, S., Occurrence of Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis Green (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on cotton in India and record of associated parasitoid. J. Biol. Control, 2012, 26(3), 272–273.

  • Firake, D. M., Behere, G. T., Sharma, B. and Fand, B. B., First report of the invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus parvus Morrison in-festing Naga King Chili and its colonization potential on major host plants in India. Phytoparasitica, 2016, 44, 187–194.

  • Sridhar, V., Joshi, S., Jhansi Rani, B. and Rajiv Kumar, First record of lantana mealybug, Phenacoccus parvus Morrison (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) as a pest on China aster from South India. J. Hortic. Sci., 2012, 7(1), 108–109.

  • Joshi, S., Pai, S. G., Deeothy, K. B., Ballal, C. R. and Watson, G. W., The cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) arrives in India. Zootaxa, 2020, 1, 191–194.

  • Ali, M., Ahmed, K., Ali, S., Raza, G., Hussain, I., Nafees, M. A. and Anjum, S. I., An annotated checklist of Coccinellidae with four new records from Pakistan (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae). Zookeys, 2018, 803, 93–120; doi:10.3897/zookeys.803.22543, PMID: 30643-484; PMCID: PMC6292984.

  • Anga, J. M., John, S. and Noyes, J. S., A revision of the African and Malagasy species of the genus Leptomastix (Hymenoptera, En-cyrtidae) parasitoids of mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London (Entomol), 1999, 68(2), 93–128.

  • Fallahzadeh, M., Japoshvili, G., Abdimaleki, R. and Saghaei, N., New records of Tetracneminae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, En-cyrtidae) from Iran. Turk. J. Zool., 2014, 38, 515–518.

  • Fand, B. B., Gautam, R. D. and Suroshe, S. S., Comparative biology of four coccinellid predators of solenopsis mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). J. Biol. Control, 2010, 24(1), 35–41.

  • Flint, M. L. and Dreistadt, S. H., Natural Enemies Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Biological Pest Control, University of California Integrated Pest Management Program, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998, p. 154.

  • Noyes, J. S., A review of the genera of Neotropical Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London (Ento-mol), 1980, 41, 107–246.

  • Poorani, J., Rajeshwari, S. K. and Gupta, A., Notes on diagnosis and biology of Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Hymenoptera: Encyrti-dae), a parasitoid of the invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Pseudococcidae). J. Biol. Control, 2009, 23(4), 463–466.

  • Protasov, A. and Zvi, M., Biological control of the Solanum mealy-bug in Israel. Israel Agriculture Technology Hub, World Food Day, 2018, p. 3; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328413538_ Biological_control_of_the_solanum_mealybug_in_Israel

  • Ayyar, T. V. R., A contribution to our knowledge of South Indian Coccidae (scales and mealybugs). Bull. Imperial Inst. Agricul. Res., 1930, 197, 1–73.

  • Ali, S. M., A catalogue of the Oriental Coccoidea (Part IV) (Insecta: Homoptera: Coccoideae). Indian Mus. Bull., 1970, 5, 71–150.

  • Green, E. E., Remarks on Indian scale insects (Coccidae), Part III. With a catalogue of all species hitherto recorded from the Indian continent. Mem. Dep. Agric. India – Entomol. Ser., 1908, 2, 15–46.

  • Williams, D. J., Mealybugs of Southern Asia, The Natural History Museum Kuala Lumpur, Southdene, 2004, p. 896.

  • Ali, S. M., Preliminary note on the natural enemies of sugarcane mealybug, Pseudococcus saccharifolii (Green) in Bihar (India). In-dian J. Sugarcane Res. Dev., 1963, 2, 131–132.

  • Avasthi, R. K. and Shafee, S. A., Indian Pseudococcidae (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Indian J. Syst. Entomol., 1987, 1, 1–54.

  • Fletcher, T. B., Annotated list of Indian crop pests. In Proceedings of the Third Entomology Meeting, Pusa, 1919, pp. 286–311.

  • Ayyar, T. V. R., Notes on some South Indian mealybugs. Indian J. Entomol., 1941, 1, 107–113.

  • Agarwal, R. A. and Siddiqi, Z. A., Sugarcane pests. Indian J. Ento-mol. Spec. Issue, 1964, p. 529.

  • Ali, S. M., Coccids affecting sugarcane in Bihar (Coccidae: Hemip-tera). Indian J. Sugarcane Res. Dev., 1962, 6, 72–75.

  • Ali, S. M., Some experimental studies on transmission of sugarcane spike disease by a coccid, Pseudococcus saccharifolii (Green). Indian J. Sugarcane Res. Dev., 1963, 7, 189–191.


Abstract Views: 372

PDF Views: 196




  • Phenacoccus saccharifolii (Green) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) on sugarcane in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Views: 372  |  PDF Views: 196

Authors

N. Geetha
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
R. Viswanathan
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
T. Ramasubramanian
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
K. P. Salin
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
C. Yogambal
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
P. Nirmala Devi
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
S. Karthigeyan
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
N. Chitra
Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India, India

Abstract


In this study, we report Phenacoccus saccharifolii (green) on sugarcane in Tamil Nadu, India, though an earlier unre­ported isolated occurrence was observed by us in the farmers’ fields at Pugalur, Tamil Nadu. This pest has now become a major threat to sugarcane cultivation across the state as it can often kill the infested canes with or without the association of the fungal disease, pokkah boeng. Field observations revealed that the ratoon crop was affected more than the plant crop in the same locality. This species was found in large colonies, primarily between the –2 and +1 leaf of the sugarcane plant and hence, named as crown mealybug. Infestation leads to severe mottling in the leaf whorl and death of the central shoot. To the best of our knowledge, there are no earlier studies on the occurrence of this mealybug on Saccharum spontaneum L. Well-deve­loped colonies showed high activity of three encyrtid para­sitoids, viz. Aenasius phenococci (Ashmead), Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) and Leptomastix dactylopii Howard in the areas surveyed

Keywords


Encyrtid parasitoids, fungal disease, infestation, Phenacoccus saccharifolii, Saccharum spontaneum, sugar-cane.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv123%2Fi9%2F1142-1151