Entre los coleópteros de importancia agrícola sobresale la familia Curculionidae, y entre éstos, el picudo Macrocopturus aguacatae Kissinger, está reconocido como una plaga que barrena las ramas del aguacate (Persea americana Mill.) El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la preferencia de alimentación de Macrocopturus aguacatae en condiciones de laboratorio. Para evaluar la preferencia de M. aguacate se probaron 23 variedades de aguacate utilizando ramas de 2.0 a 2.5 cm de diámetro y 30 cm de longitud, para cada variedad se tuvieron cinco repeticiones. En un experimento sin opción se colocaron en una caja de plástico transparente todas las ramas de las variedades, donde posteriormente se introdujeron ocho pares de hembras adultas e igual número de machos adultos del barrenador durante 25 días para registrar el daño causado por alimentación y oviposición sobre las ramas. Hubo diferencias significativas entre las variedades en el número de orificios causados por la alimentación del barrenador de ramas, con un nivel de 95 % de confianza. La prueba de Kruskal-Wallis determinó que las variedades más atractivas para la alimentación fueron Fuerte, Colin V-33, Hass, Pinkerton, Pionero, Aries y Aguilar, mientras que las menos atractivas fueron Day, Fuerte Negro, Reed, Maluma y Jiménez II.

Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia Creative Commons License (CC BY NC 4.0) Artículo Científico Estudio de la entomofauna de Diptera y Coleoptera asociada a un cadáver de cerdo (Sus scrofa domestica Linnaeus) en un área rural del Estado de Yucatán, México Study of the Diptera and Coleoptera entomofauna associated with a pig carcass (Sus scrofa domestica Linnaeus) in a rural area of the Yucatán State, Mexico

𝐴𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑒𝑛𝑎 Skuhravá n. sp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is described from Mexico. Galls occurs in flower buttons deforming the fruits of Leucaena diversifolia and L. leucocephala galls (Fabaceae). The presence of these galls make it impossible to form fruitsand cause the death of the branch. Male, female, larva, pupa, and gall are described, and the biology is commented. This new species is only gall midge species known on Leucaenagenus.

The decline and death of palms (Phoenix canariensis) in Mexico City is a problem that has increased in the last five years, causing the death of more than 500 palms and others with different degrees of damage. The causal agent has not been determined, so the present study aimed to identify the associated fungi of the decline and death of palms (Phoenix canariensis) in Mexico City. From February to August 2022, samples of symptomatic plant tissue from the trunk, petiole, rachis, and leaflets were collected at nine representative sampling sites in seven Boroughs of Mexico City. A total of 144 fungal isolates were obtained, comprising 11 different species. The species with the highest frequency were: Nalanthamala vermoesenii, Lasiodiplodia sp., Neopestalotiopsis sp., and Serenomyces sp., present mainly on the petiole and rachis; and Alternaria alternata and Phoma glomerata in the leaflets, these species have been reported as causative agents of different diseases in other countries and are reported for the first time in Mexico associated with P. canariensis. The information generated will allow establishing management measures tending to reduce the death of palms.

In Mexico City, the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis Chabaud) is an important plant forming part of its landscape identity. In February 2022, pink rot disease symptoms were observed on 16 P. canariensis plants in Mexico City (19°25'43.98"N, 99° 9'49.41"W). The incidence was 27%, while the severity 12%. External symptoms included necrotic lesions that advanced from the petiole towards the rachis. Internal symptoms were rotted, dark brown discoloration in bud, petiole, and rachis. Abundant conidial masses were developed on the infected tissues. Pieces of diseased tissues (5-mm cubes) were surface sterilized for 2 min in 3% sodium hypochlorite, rinsed with sterilized distilled water, plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 24°C and 12-h photoperiod, 20 pink fungal colonies were developed with sparse aerial mycelia on PDA. Conidiophores were hyaline, dimorphic, penicillate, and Acremonium-like. Conidia were dimorphic, typically with somewhat truncated ends, 4.5 to 5.7 × 1.9 to 2.3 μm (mean 4.99 × 2.15, n = 100), borne in long chains on penicillate conidiophores; on Acremonium-like conidiophores conidia were cylindrical, straight, and slightly curved, 4.55 to 10.1 × 1.2 to 2.35 μm (mean 8.2 × 1.7, n = 100). These morphological characteristics resembled those of Nalanthamala vermoesenii (Biourge) Schroers (Schroers et al. 2005). Genomic DNA was extracted from the mycelia of a representative isolate CP-SP53. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the large subunit of ribosomal ribonucleic acid (LSU) were amplified and sequenced. The sequences were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers OQ581472 (ITS) and OQ581465 (LSU). Phylogenetic trees based on ITS and LSU sequences of Nalanthamala species were reconstructed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Isolate CP-SP53 was placed in the clade of Nalanthamala vermoesenii. The pathogenicity test was carried out twice with isolate CP-SP53 on five 3-year-old P. canariensis plants. Four petioles per plant were surface disinfected with 75% ethanol, and wounded with a sterilized scalpel (shallow cuts 0.5 cm wide). A mycelial plug (5 mm in diam.) of a 1-week-old PDA culture was placed on each wounded site. Sterile PDA plugs were used for five non-inoculated control plants. All plants were maintained at 22 ± 2°C and a 12-h photoperiod. Twenty-five days after inoculation (dai), wounded petioles showed the same symptoms observed in the field, whereas control plants remained healthy. Forty-five dai, all inoculated plants died. Pink conidial masses developed on symptomatic tissues. To fulfill Koch’s postulates, the pathogen was reisolated by placing the pink conidial masses onto PDA. The colony characteristics and morphometric measurements were identical to those of isolate CP-SP53. Nalanthamala vermoesenii has been reported on P. canariensis in Greece and United States (Feather et al. 1979; Ligoxigakis et al. 2013) and Syagrus romanzoffiana in Egypt (Mohamed et al. 2016). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Nalanthamala vermoesenii as the causal agent of pink rot on P. canariensis in Mexico. This plant is the most commonly planted ornamental palm in Mexico City. The spread of N. vermoesenii could be a threat for the estimated 15 thousand palms, therefore dramatically change the urban landscape.