Mango mealybug

Mango mealybug (Drosicha mangiferae), is a pest of mango crops in Asia. The nymphs and females suck plant sap from inflorescences, tender leaves, shoots and fruit peduncles.[2] As a result, the infested inflorescences dry up, affects the fruit set, causing fruit drop. These bugs also exude honey dew over the mango tree leaves, on which sooty mold fungus develops reducing the photosynthetic efficiency of the tree. It is a polyphagous pest and is found on over 60 other plant species [3]

Mango mealybug
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hemiptera
Superfamily:
Coccoidea
Family:
Margarodidae
Genus:
Drosicha
Species:
D. mangiferae
Binomial name
Drosicha mangiferae
Stebbins, 1903[1]

Life cycle

In Pakistan, Drosicha mangiferae is univoltine and has a total lifecycle of 78–135 days. Between April and May, purple-colored eggs are laid in egg-sacs consisting of a mass of wax threads, in the loose soil around (within 2–3 m radius) the infested mango trees. Eggs hatch in December–January and nymphs start ascending the trees to succulent shoots and the bases of fruiting parts. Nymphs go through stages of 1st instar (45–71 days), 2nd instar (18–38 days) and 3rd instar (15–26 days). Female and male appearance starts during March–April. Males are winged and short-lived after mating, and do not cause damage to the trees.[2]

Control of mango mealybug

There are a range of cultural, chemical and non-chemical techniques for minimizing damage to the mango crop, for example the use of physical barriers to stop Drosicha mangiferae nymphs crawling up the stem of mango trees, by wrapping plastic sheets or sticky bands (sometimes impregnated with insecticide) around the tree stem.[3][4][5]

See also

References
  1. Encyclopedia of Life Drosicha mangiferae
  2. Allahdin Group Mango pests: Mango mealy bug
  3. Meena BM, Chattopadhyay A, Meena SC, Rathore SS (2014). "Package and Practices for Integrated Pest Management of Mango (Mangifera indica)" (PDF). Popular Kheti. 2 (3): 100–108.
  4. Karar H, Sayyed AH, Arif MJ, Ashfaq M, Aslam M (2010). "Integration of cultural and mechanical practices for management of the mango mealybug Drosicha mangiferae". Phytoparasitica. 38 (3): 223–229. doi:10.1007/s12600-010-0094-8.
  5. Hussain SI, Saleem MA, Freed S (2012). "Toxicity of some insecticides to control mango mealybug, Drosicha mangiferae, a serious pest of mango in Pakistan" (PDF). Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 44 (2): 353–359.
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