EFFECT OF Melanaphis donacis Passerini (HEMIPTERA: APHIDIDAE) ON BIOMASS OF Arundo donax L. (Poaceae)

Abstract

Giant reed, Arundo donax (L.), is known for its potential as a bioenergy crop. To evaluate the effect of the aphid Melanaphis donacis (Passerini) on plants growing in the Metropolitan Region of Chile, three treatments with six plots each were compared: imidacloprid, the agricultural detergent TS2035, and an untreated control. Aphid density levels in the untreated control plants averaged 136.27 aphids leaf-1 along the growing season, while TS2035 and imidacloprid averaged 8.26 and 0.98 aphids leaf-1 , respectively. The greatest yield of A. donax (95.1 t dry matter (DM) ha-1) was obtained with the TS2035 detergent, followed by imidacloprid and the untreated control, with values of 88.8 and 84.1 t DM ha-1 , respectively. However, there were no significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in DM yields of A. donax between treatments. Thus, control of M. donacis with insecticides would be unnecessary in bioenergy crops of A. donax in this region.

First record of Melanaphis donacis (Passerini, 1861) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in México

“…Therefore, the impact of M. donacis could be categorized as urban and peri-urban, of uncertain importance even for Mexican artisanal economic activities. In contrast, the potential of A. donax to produce biofuel is explored in Chile, for which M. donacis gains the pest category and products are evaluated for its control (Undurraga et al 2019) and natural enemies are sought to control it (Undurraga et al 2020).…”