Biological studies of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) bunder different host plants and temperatures with an annotated list of natural enemies of this pest in Egypt

Abstract

The California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) is potentially a severe pest of citrus trees in different parts in Egypt. The aim of this work is to study the biological studies of this pest on the host plants, Citrus sinensis (citrus), Ficus nitida (laurel fig) and Mangifera indica (mango) under different temperatures (18, 24, 30ºC) as well as an annotated list of natural enemies associated with A. aurantii in Egypt. The results observed the host plants and temperatures greatly influenced on the development of A. aurantii. The lowering of the temperature increased the dimension of the California red scale and lengthened the developmental period. The results on host plants, citrus, Ficus nitida and mango showed that the life cycle of A. aurantii, at 30 o C were 49.8±11.31, 68.9±19.30 and 81.3±18.31 days, respectively. These results indicated that A. aurantii prefers citrus followed by Ficus nitida and mango. Twelve species of parasitoids and nine species of predators were collected and recorded, one of them is new record and this is Encarsia lounsburyi (Berlese & Paoli) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae).

Age-specific life tables of Aonidiellaaurantii (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) and its parasitoid Aphytismelinus DeBach (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

“…In addition, the preoviposition period, oviposition period, longevity, and the mean number of eggs per female of A. aurantii differed significantly depending on the difference in temperature. In general, the duration of each developmental stage recorded in this study was consistent with those determined for A. aurantii by Badary and Abd-Rabou (2010), and less than those determined by Karaca (1990). In other species of Aonidiella, the average developmental time ranged between 45 days and 94 days depending on the temperature used for A. orientalis (Flaih, 2007), 65 days for A. citrina in California; the reproductive period lasts 60 days under a constant temperature of 27.8 °C (Nel, 1933).…”

“…Since the 1960s, there have been intensive studies on mortality and growth of A. aurantii conducted worldwide (DeBach et al, 1971;Abdelrahman, 1974;Karaca et al, 1987;Badary and Abd-Rabou, 2010). Information about the biology of A. aurantii is important for improving the mass production of certain parasitoids used in biological control, particularly A. melinus, a species that is used to control A. aurantii (Olivas et al, 2011).…”

“…The intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) is of value as the mean of describing the potential growth of population under given climatic and food conditions; it is an important parameter in inductive strategic and management models of pest populations (Abou Hatab, 1999;Bayoumy et al, 2009). Few studies have been conducted on the biological parameters of the California red scale and its parasitoid A. melinus (Heimpel, 1997;Badary and Abd-Rabou, 2010). Therefore, the aims of the present work were to simultaneously study the life history and behaviour of A. aurantii and its parasitoid A. melinus at 3 constant temperatures (20, 23, and 27 °C) under laboratory conditions.…”

Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of Aonidiella citrina

“…At that time, no evidence had been found regarding different susceptibilities to insecticides, natural enemies or other environmental factors that could have been responsible for the displacement of A. citrina by A. aurantii. Differences in biological responses to environmental conditions, such as temperature or relative humidity, were also considered not to explain the observed displacement (McLaren, 1971;Badary and Abd-Rabou, 2010). In their native habitats, A.…”