The natural enemies recorded on major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum&nbsp;L.) in India including new records are given. The potential of utilising them in biological control programmes are discussed.
&nbsp

KOYA, S DEVASAHAYAM, K M ABDULLA

Update Publishing (E-Journals)

Journal of Spices & Aromatic Crops 3 (1) : 50-55, 1994 50 Natural enemies of major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in Indial S DEVASAHAYAM & K M ABDULLA KOYA2 National Research Centre for Spices Marikunnu, Caticut - 673 012, Kerala, India. ABSTRACT The natural enemies recorded on major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India including new records are given. The potential of utilising them in biological control programmes are discussed. Key words: black pepper, Piper nigrum, insect pests, natural enemies. Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) (Piperaceae), a perennial climbing vine from which the spice of commerce is obtained, is of considerable economic importance for the country earning around Rs. 75 crores annually (1991-92) by foreign exchange. However, the productivity of the crop is considerably low mainly due to ravages by pests and diseases. Thirty four species of insects have been recorded on the crop in India among which 'pollu' beetle (Longitarsus nigripennis Mots.), top shoot borer (Cydia hemidoxa Meyr.), leaf gall thrips (Liothrips karnyi Bagn.) and scale in-sects (Lepidosaphes piperis Gr. and Aspidiotus destructor Sign.) are impor-tant (Devasahayam, Premkumar & Koya 1988). At present all the major insect pests are controlled by application of insecticides. Since black pepper is an export oriented crop, it is essential to keep the levels of insecticide residues below tolerable limits. Hence develop-ment of integrated pest management schedules incorporating biological con-trol and involving minimum use of pesticides would be advantageous. A perusal of literature on natural enemies of insect pests of black pepper indicated that only a few biocontrol agents have been recorded. Hence as a fIrst step in developing biological con-trol programmes in black pepper, work on documenting the natural enemy complex of major insect pests was initiated at National Research Centre for Spices (NRCS), Calicut during mid 1980's. Observations on occurrence of 1 Contribution No. 203 of National Research Centre for Spices, Cali cut. . 2 Present address: Red Palm Weevil Project, Agriculture Improvement Scheme, Saihat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ee .1Va;tural enemies of insect pests of black pepper 51 . Table 1. List of natural enemies of major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India Insect pest I Natural enemy a. 'Poilu' beetle (Longitarsus nigripennis Mots.) 1. Genus et sp. indet (Nematoda: Mermithidae) 2. Genus et sp. indet (Araneae) 3. Oecophylla smaragdina Fabr. (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) b. Top shoot borer (Cydia hemidoxa Meyr.) 1. Hexamermis sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) 2. Clinotrombium sp. (Acarina : Trombidiidae) 3. Apanteles sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) 4. A. cypris Nixon (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) 5. Genus et sp. indet (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) 6. Eudederus sp. (Hymenoptera : Eulophidae) 7. Goniozus sp. (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) c. Leaf gall thrips (Liothrips karnyi Bagnall) 1. Geogarypus sp. (Pseudoscorpiones : Geogarypidae) 2. Genus et sp. indet (Acarina) 3. Montandoniola moraguesi Puton (Heteroptera : Anthocoridae) 4. Genus et sp. indet (Heteroptera : Anthocoridae) 5. Androthrips f/avipes Schmutz (Thysanoptera : Phlaeothripidae) Reference New record Premkulhar (1980) New record Devasahayam & Koya (1994) New record Visalakshi & Joseph (1965) Devasahayam & Koya (1993) Devasahayam & Koya (1993) Visalakshi & Joseph (1965) Visalakshi & Joseph (1965); Devasahayam & Koya (1993) Devasahayam (1992) Visalakshi & Joseph (1967) Ananthakrishnan (1978); Devasahayam (1992) Visalakshi & Joseph (1967) Ananthakrishnan (1978); Devasahayam (1992) Devasahayam & Koya 52 Table 1. (Contd.) Insect pest / Natural enemy Reference 6. Lestodiplosis sp. Devasahayam (1992) (Diptera : Cecidomyiidae) 7. Rhodesiella sp. Devasahayam (1992) (Diptera : Chloropidae) d. Scale insects (Lepidosaphes piperis Gr. and Aspidiotus destructor Sign.) 1. Bdella sp. (Acarina : Bdellidae) 2. Genus et sp. indet (Heteroptera : Miridae) 3. Karnyothrips melaleucus (Bagnall) (Thysanoptera : Phlaeothripidae) 4. Aleurodothrips fasciatus (Franklin) (Thysanoptera : Phlaeothripidae) 5. Chilocorus circumdatus (Gyllenhall) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 6. Pseudoscymnus sp. (2 species) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 7. P. dwipakalpa Ghorpade (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 8. Pharoscymnus horni (Wiese) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 9. Sticholotis exsanguis Sicard (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) 1O.Cybocephalus sp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) 1l.Encarsia lounsburyi (Berlese & Paoli) (Hymenoptera : Aphelenidae) natural enemies were carried out mainly in black pepper plantations at Kuppadi, Kalpetta (Wynad district, Kerala), Calicut and Peruvannamuzhi (Calicut district, Kerala). The natural enemies recorded during these studies and those recorded earlier are presented here (Table 1). New record New record New record New record New record New record New record New record New record New record New record 'PoIlu' beetle (Longitarsus nigripennis) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) The 'poilu' beetle is the most destrutive pest of black pepper especially i~ plains and midlands (below 300m MSL). The adults feed and damage tender leaves and the grubs bore into tender berries Natural enemies of insect pests of black pepper 53 and make them hollow. Apart from an unidentified species of spider (Araneae) predaceous on adults (Premkumar 1980), nO other report of natural enemies of 'poilu' beetle is available. The natural enemies recorded during the present study include an unidentified entomophagous nematode (? Mermithidae) and weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina Fabr. (Formicidae). The entomophagous nema-tode parasitised adult beetles (2-5 per cent) during July and August at Peruvannamuzhi. Workers of O. smaragdina occasionally predated on newly emerged adults at Peruvannamuzhi. Top shoot borer (Cydia hemidoxa) (Lepidoptera: Torticidae) The top shoot borer is a serious pest of black pepper in younger plantations. The larvae of the pest bore into tender terminal shoots resulting in their decay and drying and ultimately affecting the growth ofthe vine. A few parasites have been recorded earlier on C. hemidoxa. These include Hexamermis sp. (Mermithidae), Apanteles sp., A. cypris Nixon (Braconidae), Eudederus sp. (Eulophidae), Goniozus sp. (Bethylidae) and an unidentified species ofBraconidae (Visalakshi & Joseph 1965; Devasahayam & Koya 1993; Devasahayam & Koya 1994). The seasonal incidence of some of these parasites was studied at Peruvannamuzhi. Parasitism by Hexamertnis sp. occurred in the field during July to November and was high during July and August; up to 76.7 per cent of larvae were parasitfsed during August. A. cypris was active in the field during September to November with a peak incidence of 20 per cent during October (Devasahayam & Koya 1993; Devasahayam & Koya 1994), A parae sitic mite Clinotrombium sp. (Trombidiidae) was recorded on larvae during the present study. About 8-10 juveniles of the mite occasionally parasitised late ins tar larvae at Peruvannamuzhi. Leaf gall thrips (Liothrips karnyi) (Thysanoptera : Phlaeothripidae) Leaf gall thrips infest leaves of black pepper and induce the formation of marginal, tubular galls on them. The pest infestation is generally serious at higher altitudes and also in nurseries in the plains. Montandoniola moraguesi Puton (Anthocoridae) and Androthrips fiavipes Schmutz (Phlaeothripidae) are important predators of L. karnyi (Ananthakrishnan 1978;' Devasahayam 1992). Visalakshi & Joseph (1967) reported that an unidentified anthocorid and mite also predated on juvenile stages of the pest. Recently, Geogarypus sp. (Geogarypidae), Lestodiplosis sp. (Cecidomyiidae) and Rhodesiella sp. (Chloropidae) were reported to be pre-daceous on juvenile stages of L. karnyi (Devasahayam 1992). The life cycle of M. moraguesi on L. karnyi was also studied (Devasahayam 1987). Apart from these r,ecords no other natural enemy was observed during the present study. Scale insects (Lepidosaphes piperis and Aspidiotus destructor) (Heteroptera : Diaspididae) Scale insects sometimes caus,e serious damage to black pepper especially at higher altitudes. Scale insects encrust stems, leaves and. berries and suck plant sap resulting in drying of infested plant parts, especially during summer. Among the various species of scale insects recorded on black pepper, mus-Devasahayam & Koya sel scale L. piperis and coconut scale A. destructor are important. A number of natural enemies were recorded on scale insects during tIle present study. These include a predatory mite, Bdella sp. (Bdellidae), a hymenopteran parasite, Encarsia lounsburyi (Berlese & Paoli) (Aphelinidae), two species of predatory thrips, Karnyothrips melaleucus (Bagn.) and Aleurodothrips fasciatus (Frank.) (Phlaeothripidae), seven species ofpreda-tory beetles, Chi/ocorus circumdatus (Gyllenhal), Pseudoscymnus sp. (two types), P. dwipakalpa Ghorpade, Pharoscymnus horni (Weise), Sticholotis exsanguis Sicard (Coccinellidae) and Cybocephalus sp. (Nitidulidae) and an unidentified species ofmirid bug. These natural enemies were recorded from Kuppadi, Calicut and Peruvannamuzhi. Among them, Bdella sp., E. lounsburyi, C. circumdatus,Pseudoscymnus sp. and Cybocephalus sp. were more common. All the natural enemies are new records on scale insects infesting black pepper. The study indicated that except in the case of 'poilu' beetle, a number of natural enemies are available on major insect pests of black pepper offering great potential in utilising them benefi-cially in biological control programmes. Studies on predatory potential, life cycle and seasonal incidence of these natural enemies and their interactions with the pests are in progress at NRCS, Calicut. Methods are also being standardised to develop techniques for propagation of major natural enemies for their aug-mentation in the field and for incorpo-rating them in integrated pest manage-ment schedules. Acknowledgements We are thankful to Drs. R. G. Booth, D. Macfarlane, G. M. Stonedahl, A. Polaszek 54 and G. J. duHeaume of International Institute of Entomology, United King-dom of identifying the natural enemies. References Ananthakrishnan T N 1978 Thrip Galls and Gall Thrips. Technical Mono-graph No. 1. Zoological Society of India, Calcutta. Devasahayam S 1991 Montandoniola moraguesi (Puton) (Anthocoridae : Heteroptera) - a potential biocontrol agent of Liothrips karnyi Bangall (Phlaeothripidae : Thysanoptera) infesting black pepper. In: Abstracts of Papers (p. 11). National Seminar on Biologi-cal Control in Plantation Crops. 27-28 June 1991, Kottayam. Devasahayam S 1992 Bioecology and control of marginal gall forming thrips Liothrips karnyi Bagnall infesting black pepper. Final Report of Research Project. Na-tional Research Centre for Spices, Calicut. Devasahayam S & Abdulla Koya K M 1993 Seasonal incidence of hy-menopterous parasites oftop shoot borer, Cydia hemidoxa Meyrick (Lepidoptera : Tortricidae) on black pepper. J. Ent. Res. 17: 205-208. Devasahayam S & Adbulla Koya K M 1994 Seasonal incidence of Hexamermis sp. (Dor., Mermithidae) parasitising larvae of top shoot borer Cydia hemidoxa Meyr. (Lep., Tortricidae) on black pepper. J. Appl. Ent. 117 : 31-34. Devasahayam S, Premkumar T & Abdulla Koya K M 1988 Insect pests of black pepper Piper nigrum L. in India - a review. J. Plant. Crops 16 : 1-11. enemies of insect pests of black pepper 55 fj';ilPre,m~,unlar T 1980 Ecology and control of pepper pollu beetleLangitarsus nigripennis Motschulsky (Chrysomelidae : Coleoptera). PhD Thesis. Submitted to Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani. Visalakshi A & Joseph K V 1965 The biology of tl1e pepper top shoot borer Laspeyresia hemidaxa Meyr. (Eucosmidae : Lepidoptera). Agric. Res. J. Kerala. 3 : 48-50. Visalakshi A & Joseph K V 1967 Biology of Gynaikathrips karnyi Bagnall, the marginal gall forming thrips of pepper. Agric. Res. J. Kerala. 5 (1-2) : 79-81. 

Natural enemies of major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India

https://updatepublishing.com/journal/index.php/josac/article/download/4441/3940

Natural enemies of major insect pests of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Update Publishing (E-Journals)