A Survey of the Arthropod Pests and Plant Parasitic Nematodes Associated with Commercial Figs,Ficus carica(Moraceae), in South Africa

Ficus microcarpa Bonsai “Tiger bark” Parasitized by the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne javanica and the Spiral Nematode Helicotylenchus dihystera, a New Plant Host Record for Both Species

“…This RKN species is known to parasitize F. carica and is one of the most widely distributed species and the second highest in economic importance after M. incognita [ 22 , 23 , 32 ]. Meloidogyne javanica was first reported from Portugal on potato in Azores [ 33 ].…”

“…Despite the diversity of Ficus species, the research regarding plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) has been focussed on the edible fig tree F. carica native to western Asia and introduced in the Mediterranean region. A number of PPN species have been reported as parasitizing fig trees in many countries, the most prevalent belonging to the genera Helicotylenchus (spiral nematodes), Heterodera (cyst nematodes), Meloidogyne (root-knot nematodes), Paratylenchus (pin nematodes), Pratylenchus (root lesion nematodes, RLN) and Xiphinema (dagger nematodes) [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Of these, the most common are the RKN species M. arenaria , M. hapla , M. hispanica , M. incognita and M. javanica , economically important species that directly target plant roots and prevent water and nutrient uptake, resulting in growth or even plant death in extreme cases, and the species Heterodera fici , a worldwide parasite of ornamental and cultivated Ficus species [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Fig wasps and pollination.

“…A diversity of other organisms develops inside figs and are transferred between figs by the pollinating wasps (Wohlfarter et al, 2011). They include mites (Jauharlina et al, 2012), nematodes (Martin et al, 1973;Van Goor et al, 2018), fungi (Caldis, 1927;Michailides et al, 1996;Michailides and Morgan, 1998), and bacteria (Grimont et al, 1979).…”

“…Progressively caprifig cultivars, in which the phenological gap between profichi and mammoni was missing, were chosen. Such a cultivar is reported in Condit's (1955) Ficus carica has also been introduced for cultivation to various other parts of the world where there is a suitable climate, such as Australia (Morton, 1987), China (Morton, 1987), India (Rattanpal et al, 2017), Japan (Morton, 1987), North America (including California (USA), Mexico, Costa Rica, and the West Indies (Condit, 1920(Condit, , 1933(Condit, , 1955Morton, 1987;Armstrong, 1988Armstrong, , 2010, South America (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela) (Morton, 1987), and South Africa (Tribolet, 1912;Wohlfarter et al, 2011;Giliomee et al, 2017). In some of the introduced areas, F. carica has become naturalized in suitable habitats.…”

Integrative diagnosis, biological observations, and histopathology of the fig cyst nematode Heterodera fici Kirjanova (1954) associated with Ficus carica L. in southern Italy

“…In particular, H.fici is a worldwide parasite of ornamental and cultivated Ficus species ( F.carica , F.elastica , F.rubiginosa Desf. ex Vent., F.benghalensis Linneaus, 1753, F.lyrata Warb., F.australis Wild., and F.benjamina Linneaus, 1767) (Baldwin and Mundo-Ocampo 1991, Evans and Rowe 1998; Wohlfarter et al 2011). Based on classical morphology and host data, H.fici has been variously placed with members of the Schachtii group (Mulvey and Golden 1983, Baldwin and Mundo-Ocampo 1991) or in the Avenae group (Stone 1975).…”