Ecological Aspects of Pear Psyllid, Cacopsylla pyricola (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), and Its Associated Natural Enemies, as A new Pest on Pear Trees in Egypt

S., Youssef A.; Aly, Nadia, A.; Abd-Rabou, Shaaban

doi:10.21608/eajbsa.2015.12866

Ecological Aspects of Pear Psyllid, Cacopsylla pyricola (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), and Its Associated Natural Enemies, as A new Pest on Pear Trees in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center.

10.21608/eajbsa.2015.12866

Abstract

Pear psyllid, Cacopsylla pyricola (Foerster) (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) was recorded as a new pest on pear trees in Ismailiya Governorate, Egypt (Ahmed, 2007). The infestation of the pest causes leaves yellowish, local lesions due to toxic saliva, defoliation, loss in plant vigour and shrinking of fruits then dropping in premature stage. The nymphs and adults excrete large amounts of honeydew which encourage the growth of sooty mould and the infested leaves acquire the dirty black appearance that effect on the photosynthesis. The seasonal activity of C. pyricolawas studied on pear trees during two successive years,2013 &2014 in Ismailiya Governorate. The obtained results showed that, the adults have two forms, the first one is winter form whereas, spends winter season in diapause and the other one is summer form which responsible much of damages. The pear psyllid, C. pyricolahas two overlapping generations per year, the first generation occurred from early February to mid-June, peaked in early May with duration about 4.5 months; the second generation started from mid June to early November, peaked in early September with duration about 4.5 months. The duration of generation affected significantly with the tested weather factors (mean temperatures and % RH). The combined effect of the tested factors on the population activity ranged 70.5&73.5% in the 1^stgeneration of activity and 66.8& 65.2% in the 2^nd one for both years, respectively.

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