Nishida, T.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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Vol. XVII, No. 3, August, 1961 429Indian Plants of Entomological Interest in Hawaii1T. NlSHIDA2HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONUNIVERSITY OF HAWAIIHONOLULU, HAWAII{Submitted for publication November, I960)Some of the features of India that impress a foreigner are the great ranges ofrainfall, temperature, and topographic features. These variations are manifestedin the great diversity of vegetation. It has been stated that India, with its 2,500species of indigenous trees, has the most diverse natural vegetation in the world^Chatterjee, 1953). During my ten-month sojourn there, it was indeed surprisingto find in India many plants found in Hawaii. The purpose of this paper is topresent an annotated list of plants common to both Hawaii and India which areof interest entomologically. Included in the list are plants that are of interest toentomologists in Hawaii because (l) they are noxious weeds which entomologists are interested in controlling biologically and (2) they are infested byinsects which do not occur in Hawaii, and thus might be of interest to economicentomologists and quarantine officials.Noxious WeedsPamakani, Eupatorium adenopbonwi Spreng.Pamakani, a native of Mexico, is a serious pest of the range lands in Hawaii(Hosaka and Thistle, 1954). A tephritid gall fly, Procecidochares utilis Stone,introduced from Mexico, has been found to be an effective agent in controllingthis weed (Bess and Haramoto, 1956).During October, 1959, I found pamakani in Darjeeling at an elevation of6,500 feet in the high mountainous region of northeastern India. The plantswere growing on steep slopes as an under-story of coniferous trees in the vicinityof the Darjeeling Institute of Mountaineering and the Mount Everest Hotel.Probably because of the shaded conditions, the plants did not look as vigorousas those on the sunny slopes of Haleakala, Maui. A considerable amount oftime was spent looking for insects associated with pamakani, but none werefound.Three days were spent during March, I960, at Ootacamund, a hill station insouth India at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, making observations on the1 Published with the approval of the Director of the Hawaii Agricultural ExperimentStation as Miscellaneous Paper No. 129.2 These observations were made during a tenure of a research grant from the UnitedStates Educational Foundation. The encouragement and assistance in many ways of Dr.Olive Reddick, Director, U.S. Educational Foundation in India, are gratefully acknowledged.The helpful criticisms on the manuscript by Edward Hosaka, Specialist in Pasture Management and Agronomy, University of Hawaii, are also gratefully acknowledged.430 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological Societydistribution of pamakani. This plant was found along the dry stream beds underEucalyptus trees not far from the Ooty race course. An examination of the plants,which were in full bloom at that time of the year, failed to reveal the presence ofany phytophagous insects. As in Darjeeling, the pamakani at this hill stationwas not as vigorous as that in Hawaii.Pamakani in India does not appear to be a serious weed pest. Field observationsindicated that this plant does not have the vigor that it has in Hawaii, and, evenwithout phytophagous insects to retard its growth, it does not appear to bespreading rapidly at present.Lantana, Lantana camara L.Lantana, a native of tropical America (Neal, 1948), is another serious weed pestof the range lands in Hawaii (Hosaka and Thistle, 1954). The potential menaceof this plant to the Hawaiian cattle ranges was early recognized and insects tocontrol it were imported as early as 1902. Insects to control this weed are stillbeing introduced by the State Department of Agriculture and Conservation(Weber, 1956; Davis, 1958, 1959, I960).According to Dr. R. K. Tandon, Agronomist and Principal of the Government Agricultural College, Kanpur, India, lantana was imported into India onlyrecently as an ornamental plant. In India it is doing very well as an ornamental,but in many places it has escaped cultivation and is becoming a serious pest.Lantana was observed growing very vigorously in the humid Himalayan foothills, Nilgiris hills in south India, and throughout the Gangetic plains. Besidesman, the plant is no doubt disseminated by Indian mynah birds and others thatfeed on the seeds. In many parts of India the plant is growing vigorously andthere is no evidence of insect defoliation and galling which are commonly seenon lantana in Hawaii.Gorse, Ulex europaeus L.Gorse is a leguminous plant, native ofEurope (Hosaka and Ripperton, 1944).According to these authors this weed occurs on the range lands of Olinda, Maui,and Humuula, Hawaii. Attempts are being made by the State Board of Agriculture and Conservation to control gorse by introducing from foreign countriesinsects that feed on it (Davis, 1959).In India gorse was observed widely spread in the hill station areas of Ootaca-mund at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. Tall, vigorous plants were found inabundance throughout this area and in many places valuable range lands werecompletely covered by it. In several places farmers were seen cutting and burningthe plants. The only insect observed attacking gorse was the cottony cushionscale, leerya purchasi Maskell, which was present in small numbers.Crotalaria, Crotalaria sp.It was not possible to obtain the specific name of this legume and hence it isnot known whether this plant occurs in Hawaii. The genus Crotalaria is represented by several species in Hawaii, and, at least one of the, C. longirostrata, isVol. XVII, No. 3, August, 1961 431unpalatable to cattle and may be considered a pest of the range lands (Hosakaand Ripperton, 1944).Crotalaria appeared to be a pest of the range lands in the hill station areas ofOotacamund. Tall, vigorous plants were commonly observed growing in association with gorse. Being unpalatable, both Crotalaria and gorse were virtuallyuntouched by cattle while the surrounding species were eaten to the ground.Aside from the flower-visiting insects, no others were observed.Prickly Pear, Opuntia sp.The prickley pear, Opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck, a native of Mexico, wasintroduced into Hawaii about 1800 (Neal, 1948). Although there is disagreementamong ranchers as to the forage value of this plant, it is generally considered apest because it crowds out the more desirable forage species (Hosaka andThistle, 1954). Several species of insects, such as the Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg),and Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell), have been introduced in attempts to controlthe prickly pear in Hawaii (Weber, 1951).In India the prickly pear, called "Nag-phunee" in the Bengali dialect, occursin many places, especially in the dry regions of the Deccan plateau. Evidently thefruits are used as food for those of the red-fruited variety were seen on the fruitstands. The prickly pear was examined in only a few places in south India.Although it has been reported that the introduced cochineal insect, Dactylopiussp., was destroying the prickly pear in India, I saw no evidence ofsuch destruction.Algaroba, Prosopis chilensis (Mol.) StuntzThe algaroba, a native of tropical America, is both a beneficial plant as well asa pest of the range lands (Hosaka and Thistle, 1954). From an entomologicalstandpoint the algaroba is of interest because it is one of the major sources ofhoney in Hawaii. Recently, a moth, Ithome concolorella (Chambers), was found todamage the flowers of the algaroba (Clagg, 1954; Fullaway, 1954; Namba, 1956).Efforts were made to control this moth biologically, and a parasite, Bracongelechiae Ashmead, was introduced from Arizona (Weber, 1956). There is noevidence that this parasite became established in Hawaii.A plant very similar in appearance to the one called Prosopis chilensis in Hawaii,which is referred to as P. juliflora in India, was observed in the vicinity of Delhi,Agra, and Kanpur, India. The trees in these areas flowered in great profusion andproduced as many as ten pods per raceme. The flowers were examined in Kanpur,but there was no evidence of anv insect damage.Guava, Psidium guajava L.The guava, a native of tropical America, was introduced into Hawaii by DonMarin (Neal, 1948). In Hawaii it is a useful plant as well as a pest of range lands.However, in India, aside from the wild varieties growing in the hills of thesouthern region, much of the guava is cultivated. Large amounts of fruit aresold in the markets during the winter season when fruits of the best quality areproduced. Although the guava is cultivated to a considerable extent in the432 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological SocietyIndo-Gangetic plains, it has not escaped cultivation as it has done in Hawaii.Aside from fruit flies, no other major pest was found associated with it.Cultivated PlantsMango, Mangifera indica L.The mango, a native of India, is grown in Hawaii both in the backyards andto a certain extent in commercial orchards. Fortunately, except for fruit Hies,the mango tree in Hawaii is relatively free from pests. In India, where there areat least 400 varieties of mango, there are several serious pests which do notoccur in Hawaii.One of the most serious problems of mangoes in north India is the * 'malformation disease." This disease is characterized by the deformation of the terminalshoots and the inflorescence (Figure 1, top). The damage to the inflorescence ismost serious because no fruits are produced on deformed panicles. Apparently,this disease is related to mites (Singh, 1955), but the etiological relationshipbetween this abnormality and mites has not been clearly established.The giant mango mealy bug, Drosicha mangiferae Green, is a pest ofmango innorth India. This mealy bug has been reported to affect adversely the fruit setwhen the inflorescence is attacked. During April, I960, there was a severeoutbreak of this pest at Kanpur. In the mango orchards located on the campusof the Government Agricultural College, the ground, trunks, and branches of themango trees were literally covered with this grayish-white giant mealy bug.Another serious mango pest that does not occur in Hawaii is a psyllid,Apsylla chtellata Buckton, the nymphs of which produce galls on the terminalbuds of the mango tree. During May, I960, severe damage caused by this pestwas observed in the region of Dehra Dun, north India, where nearly all of theterminal buds of many trees were deformed as the result of its attack. It hasbeen reported that this pest also occurs in other parts of India (Singh, 1954).The twig borer, Chlumatia transversa Walker, is at times damaging to mangoes.The damage is caused by the caterpillars boring into the young twigs soon afterthe flush. Observations at Saharanpur, India, showed that during May, I960,the damage by this pest was not severe. However, during the September toOctober flush it has been reported that as much as 40 per cent of the new twigsare damaged (Singh, 1957).Lychee, Litchi chinensis Sonn.The lychee, a fruit of Chinese origin, is a popular fruit in Hawaii as well as inIndia. In India this fruit is grown in private enclaves and in commercial orchards.Fig. 1. Diseases ofmango, Mangifera indka'L., and papaya, Carhapapaya'L.\ top left, "malformation disease" of the terminal shoot of mango; top right, "malformation disease" of theinflorescence of mango; bottom, virus disease symptoms of papaya. Note crinkling of theterminal leaves of the papaya tree to the left.Vol. XVII, No. 3, August, 1961 433434 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological SocietyThe most serious pest of lychee in Hawaii is the Erinose mite, Aceria litchiiKeifer (Nishida and Holdaway, 1955). Characteristic injury symptom caused bythis mite was observed in various localities in India, but in general the damagewas not severe even though no control measures were being taken.Orchids, Vanda spp.Hundreds of species, varieties and hybrids of orchids belonging to 75 ormore genera are grown in Hawaii (Neal, 1948). Nearly all of these have beenimported from foreign countries and with them have come orchid pests, in spiteof rigid quarantine regulations. In Dehra Dun, north India, Vanda spp. werefound growing wild on mango trees. Many of the orchid plants were infestedwith small white larvae resembling those of Orchtdophilus weevils which arepresent in Hawaii. In the foothills of the Himalayas on the way to Darjeelingboth Vanda spp. and Dendrobium spp. were seen growing high up on the trees,but it was not possible to examine these plants.Papaya, Carica papaya L.The papaya, a native of tropical America (Neal, 1948), is grown in Hawaii aswell as in many other countries. In India this fruit, which is called "papeya" inthe Bengali dialect, is grown in the tropical as well as the sub-tropical areas.The popular Solo variety of Hawaii was not observed in India. In the Kanpurareas a number of trees were found infected with what appeared to be a severevirus disease which apparently does not occur in Hawaii. The terminal leaves ofthe diseased trees were yellowish green and crinkled to such an extent that thetrees were stunted (Figure 1, bottom). According to Dr. Srivastava, State Entomologist, this disease is distributed throughout Uttar Pradesh; however, itrarely causes severe damage to papaya orchards.Coconut, Cocos nucifera L.In Hawaii the coconut is used chiefly as an ornamental plant; however, insouth India, as well as in other parts of the world where the coconut grows, itprovides food and shelter for the people. In south India coconut fruits (called"Tenga" in the Tamil dialect) as well as articles made of coconut shells, fibers,and leaves, were found in the markets. As in many other parts of the world, theRhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros L. (which fortunately does not occur inHawaii) is the principal pest of the coconut in India.SummaryThis paper presents an annotated list of plants that are common to bothIndia and Hawaii, and that are of interest to Hawaiian entomologists becausethey are either noxious weeds in Hawaii which entomologists are interested incontrolling biologically, or are crop or ornamental plants infested by insects orinfected by diseases not present in Hawaii. Included in this list are seven speciesof noxious weeds and five of cultivated plants.Vol. XVII, No. 3, August, 1961 435Literature CitedBess, H. A. and F. H. Haramoto. 1956. Biological Control of Pamakani, Eupatoriumadenophorum, in Hawaii by a Tephritid Gall Fly, Procecidochares utilis. I. The Life Historyof the Fly and its Effectiveness in the Control of the Weed. Proc. Tenth Int. Cong.Ent. 4:543-548.Chatterjee, S. B. 1953. Indian Climatology. Commercial Printers. 63A Hari Ghose St.Calcutta 6, India.Clagg, C. F. 1954. Notes and Exhibitions. Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 15(2):278.Davis, C. J. 1958. Recent Introductions for Biological Control in Hawaii. III. Proc. Haw.Ent. Soc. 16(3):356-358.1959- Recent Introductions for Biological Control in Hawaii. IV. Proc. Haw.Ent. Soc. 17(l):62-66.I960. Recent Introductions for Biological Control in Hawaii. V. Proc. Haw.Ent. Soc. 17(2): 244-248.Fullaway, D. T. 1954. Notes and Exhibitions. Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 15(2):280.Hosaka, E. Y. and J. C. Ripperton. 1944. Legumes of the Hawaiian Ranges. Haw. Agric.Exp. Sta. Bull. 93.Hosaka, E. Y. and Alan Thistle. 1954. Noxious Plants of the Hawaiian Ranges. HawaiiAgric. Ext. Serv. Bull. 62.Namba, R. 1956. Descriptions of the Immature Stages and Notes on the Biology oflthome concolorella (Chambers) (Lepidoptera:Cosmopterygidae), a Pest of Kiawe in theHawaiian Islands. Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 16(1):95-1OO.Neal, M. C. 1948. In Gardens of Hawaii. B. P. Bishop Mus. Special Pub. 40.Nishida, T. and F. G. Holdaway. 1955. The Erinose Mite of Lychee. Haw. Agric. Exp.Sta. Cir. 48.Singh, S. M. 1954. Studies on Apsylla cistellata Buckton causing Mango Galls in India.Jour. Econ. Ent. 47(4): 563-564.1955. Malformation Disease of Mango (Mangifera indica Linn.). CurrentScience 24:168-169.1957. Further Studies in the Control of Mango Malformation Disease. Scienceand Culture 22:394-395.1957. A Serious Damage to Mango Shoots by the Borer, Chlumatia transversaWlk., in Uttar Pradesh. Ind. Jour. Hort. Sci. 14(4):l-3.Weber, P. W. 1951. Recent Liberations of Beneficial Insects in Hawaii. Proc. Haw. Ent.Soc. 14(2):327-33O.1956. Recent Introductions for Biological Control in Hawaii. I. Proc. Haw.Ent. Soc. 16(1):162-163.

Indian Plants of Entomological Interest in Hawaii

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Indian Plants of Entomological Interest in Hawaii

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