Enhanced production of pink pineapple mealybug,Dysmicoccus brevipes (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

A mass rearing program was developed for the pink pineapple mealybug (PPM), Dymsicoccus brevipes (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), to provide host material for producing the encyrtid parasitoid Anagyrus ananatis (Gahan). PPM individuals produce honeydew that accumulates on heavily infested squash and entraps crawlers and older instars. A new protocol was tested to reduce accumulated honeydew with minimal mortality to PPM. Butternut and kobocha squash were placed in rearing containers and covered with coarse vermiculite (>2.36?mm diameter) after being infested with PPM. Use of vermiculite removed the honeydew from the squash surface. PPM produced using vermiculite were easily harvested from the host squash, but mealybugs produced on squash without vermiculite were embedded within the honeydew. When individual kobocha squash fruit were inoculated with 300–400 mature PPM adults (>0.6?mm length), about 700 adult PPM (appropriate for A. ananatis production) were produced for each dollar value (USA) of squash fruit (i.e., ～1500?PPM per individual squash).     

抑虱跳小蜂属一新种记述(膜翅目:跳小蜂科)

记述了采自福建的抑虱跳小蜂属AcerophagusSmith1新种——二环抑虱跳小蜂AcerophagusbiannulatusXu,sp.nov.。对我国现有二种抑虱跳小蜂,即棒节抑虱跳小蜂AcerophagusclavatusXu和松粉蚧抑虱跳小蜂AcerophaguscoccoisSmith比较了区别特征。模式标本保存在浙江大学昆虫科学研究所。     

Honeydew: A food resource or arrestant for the mealybug predatorCryptolaemus montrouzieri?

The study investigated whether honeydew is a source of food or is an arrestant stimulus for adults and 4th instar larvae ofCryptolaemus montrouzieri. Adult predators fed on honeydew but produced few viable eggs. In the presence of honeydew the adult and larvae spent a significantly longer time searching and made more intensive searches on leaf surfaces than on clean parts of the leaf. We concluded that the honeydew was both a food resource and an arrestant.

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Résumé Ce travail a pour but de déterminer si le miellat est une source de nourriture ou un stimulus d'arrêt pour les adultes et les larves de 4° stade deCryptolaemus montrouzieri. Les prédateurs adultes nourris de miellat produisent peu d'œufs viables. L'adulte et la larve de coccinelle font des recherches significativement plus longues et plus intensives sur les surfaces foliaires couvertes de miellat que sur les parties indemnes de miellat. L'étude conclut que le miellat constitue à la fois une source de nourriture et un stimulus d'arrêt.

     

Ants as mealybug detectors: a novel tool for monitoring Planococcus ficus infestation based on ant behaviour

1. Vineyards are economically valuable agroecosystems that have spread to all continents. As such, sustainable management of their pests is an important goal. Mealybugs are serious pests of vines with Planococcus ficus (VMB) being the most problematic worldwide. Mealybugs are attended by different ant species, whose trophobiotic relationship is often considered damaging since some ant species may offer effective protection from natural enemies in exchange for honeydew.
2. We tested whether this trophobiosis can be used as a VMB monitoring tool, developing a protocol to evaluate infestation on the plants based on ant behaviour (Ant method). We compared this new protocol with the conventional one, consisting in visual counting of VMBs on infested leaves (Leaf method).
3. Our results demonstrated that the Ant method yielded significant advantages over the Leaf method by: (i) allowing to detect VMB infestation on individual plants much earlier; and (ii) allowing to keep track of VMB presence after pest treatments.
4. The Ant method is proposed as a valid complementary tool for integrated pest management in vineyards and its successful achievement encourage searching for further agricultural contexts in which ants may be revaluated as a monitoring tool.

     

Evaluation of insecticidal properties of botanicals for sustainable management of sucking pests of horticultural crops

Aphids, thrips, whiteflies, mealy bugs and mites could cause significant yield losses in horticultural crops. Many synthetic chemicals highly hazardous to non-target organisms and the environment are in use in their management. Botanicals are ideal for safe sustainable pest management by keeping synthetic chemical use at a minimum. We studied the insecticidal properties of three botanicals viz., Annona squamosa, Ricinus communis and Sapindus mukorossi seed extracts against sucking pests viz., aphids (Aphis gossypii and Aphis craccivora) on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and bittergourd (Momordica charantia), thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) on chilli (Capsicum frutescens), whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) on eggplant (Solanum melongena), mealy bugs (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) on betel vine (Piper betle) and mites (Tetranychus urticae) on eggplant (Solanum melongena) under laboratory conditions. The bioassay showed that A. squamosa seed extract has potent insecticidal properties on all sucking pests, except T. urticae. Though S. mukorossi seed extract exhibited no insecticidal property, had a significant acaricidal property. A. squamosa and S. mukorossi seed extracts will therefore be additional botanicals for use in organic farming for managing the sucking pests effectively.