Fruit crops as alternate hosts of cotton mealybug.
Vennila S., Meenu Agarwal
Author Affiliation: National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, L.B.S. Centre, Pusa, New Delhi - 110 012, India.
Annals of Plant Protection Sciences 21 : 434-436
Abstract : The severity of cotton mealybug (CM; Phenacoccus solenopsis) on mango, Annona squamosa, pawpaw, guava, pomegranate, Ziziphus mauritiana, Achras zapota [Manilkara zapota] and grape in three production zones in India, i.e. north zone (Haryana), central zone (Maharashtra) and south zone (Tamil Nadu), was evaluated. Grape was the only host of CM in the north zone. Pawpaw, guava, pomegranate and Z. mauritiana were common hosts in the north, central and south zones. CM infested grape only during the off-season, whereas pawpaw in all zones, and A. zapota in the central and south zones were infested throughout the year. Infestation of guava was significant during the off-season. Pawpaw was the most susceptible to the pest among the crops.