A new pest of tomato and other records of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

Three mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) plant pest species: Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana), Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, and Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), are recorded for the first time in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. This is the first record of Phenacoccus solenopsis in Brazil, where it was found infesting tomato plants. The species Antonina graminis (Maskell), a common pest of Bermuda grass, and Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell), a major pest of pineapple, also were encountered. Key words: Antonina graminis, Dysmicoccus boninsis, Dysmicoccus brevipes, Phenacoccus solenopsis, Pseudococcus viburni, Solanum lycopersicum Uma nova praga do tomateiro e outros registros de cochonilhas-farinhentas (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) no Espírito Santo, BrasilResumo: São registradas pela primeira vez a ocorrência das cochonilhas-farinhentas (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana), Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, e Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) no estado do Espírito Santo. Destaca-se que o registro de Phenacoccus solenopsis, encontrada no tomateiro, é o primeiro no Brasil. Também foram encontradas em capim Bermuda a espécie Antonina graminis (Maskell) e em abacaxi e abóbora a espécie Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell), ambas já relatadas no estado do Espírito Santo.

Life table of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) on various phenological stages of cotton

“…Then it spread to other parts of world like Caribbean and Ecuador (Ben-Dov, 1994), Chile (Larraín, 2002), Argentina (Granara de willink, 2003), Brazil (Culik and Gullan, 2005), Pakistan and India (Hodgson et al, 2008), China (Wang et al, 2009;Wu and Zhang, 2009), Sri Lanka (Prishanthini and Laxmi, 2009) and Australia (Admin, 2010). In India, P. solenopsis was predominant mealy bug infested cotton in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharastra, Rajsthan and Tamil Nadu (Nagrare et al, 2009).…”

Occurrence of new species of mealybug on cotton fields in the states of Bahia and Paraíba, Brazil

“…Cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was initially registered as a pest of cotton in Texas, United States (Fuchs et al, 1991;Ben-Dov, 2004). Since 1992, this pest has spread throughout Central America (Williams and Willink, 1992;BenDov, 2004) and it is currently found in several countries such as Brazil, Chile, China, Caribbean, Ecuador, Nigeria, Pakistan and India (Culik and Gullan, 2005;Akintola and Ande, 2008;Arif et al, 2009;Nagrare et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2009).…”

“…In Brazil, P. solenopsis was first identified in a sample of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) collected in the garden of a residence located in the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo, in October 2003 (Culik and Gullan, 2005).…”

Population growth and within-plant distribution of the striped mealybug Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell) (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae) on cotton

“…The mealybugs (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae) are outstanding for causing loss of yield of cotton crops in several countries (Fuchs et al 1991;Muralidharan & Badaya 2000;Dhawan et al 2007;Hodgson et al 2008;Wang et al 2009), including Brazil (Bastos et al 2007). Mealybugs feed by sucking the plant sap and causing leaf senescence and premature leaf fall, as well as reduced growth and even plant death (Culik & Gullan 2005). Mealybugs can also cause indirect damage because they can vector plant pathogens such as viruses (Culik & Gullan 2005) and secrete honeydew on the leaves and the open lint, which can seriously endanger the cotton yield.…”

“…Mealybugs feed by sucking the plant sap and causing leaf senescence and premature leaf fall, as well as reduced growth and even plant death (Culik & Gullan 2005). Mealybugs can also cause indirect damage because they can vector plant pathogens such as viruses (Culik & Gullan 2005) and secrete honeydew on the leaves and the open lint, which can seriously endanger the cotton yield. In addition, the honeydew favors the development of black sooty mold fungus, which affects plant development and results in stick lint, causing problems in the spinning process at the textile mills (Hendrix et al 2001).…”