Occurrence of Fulgoraecia (= Epiricania) Melanoleuca
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication Occurrence of Fulgoraecia (= Epiricania) melanoleuca (Lepidoptera: Epipyropidae) as a parasitoid of sugarcane lophopid planthopper Pyrilla perpusilla in Tamil Nadu (India) with brief notes on its life stages H. Sankararaman, G. Naveenadevi & S. Manickavasagam 26 May 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 8 | Pages: 15927–15931 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5033.12.8.15927-15931 For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies, and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2020 | 12(8): 15927–15931 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5033.12.8.15927-15931 #5033 | Received 27 April 2019 | Final received 14 February 2020 | Finally accepted 04 May 2020 S h o Occurrence of Fulgoraecia (= Epiricania) melanoleuca r t (Lepidoptera: Epipyropidae) as a parasitoid of sugarcane lophopid C o planthopper Pyrilla perpusilla in Tamil Nadu (India) m m with brief notes on its life stages u n H. Sankararaman 1 , G. Naveenadevi 2 & S. Manickavasagam 3 i c a 1,2,3 Parasitoid Taxonomy and Biocontrol laboratory, Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, t Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu 608002, India. i 1 2 3 o [email protected] (corresponding author), [email protected], [email protected] n Abstract: Seasonal incidence of sugarcane planthopper Pyrilla & Wraten 1996). It has played a major role in the perpusilla Walker (Hemiptera: Lophopidae) and its natural enemies management of the sugarcane Pyrilla epidemics was investgated at Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu during 2018. In this study, Fulgoraecia melanoleuca, a parasitoid of sugarcane planthopper (Gangwar et al. 2008). Although it has been recorded Pyrilla perpusilla was observed in large numbers in the feld. Brief in India in 1939 (Fletcher 1939), its biocontrol potental notes on its biology, life stages, and extent of parasitsm on the host were studied. Per cent parasitzaton in nymph and adult was 47.54 was recognized only during the Pyrilla epidemics in Utar and 45.09, respectvely, during the month of August. High resoluton Pradesh and Bihar (Banerjee 1973). In India, incidence images of all life stages are provided to help in identfcaton. of Fulgoraecia has been recorded in Maharashtra Keywords: Biology, Fulgoraecia melanoleuca, life stages, natural (Gholap & Chandele 1985), Gujarat (Pawar et al. 1988), occurrence, Pyrilla perpusilla. Rajasthan (Joshi & Sharma 1989), Odisha (Patnaik et al. 1990), Haryana (Chhillar & Madan 1992; Ahlawat & Kumar 2015), Utar Pradesh (Tripathi & Katyar 1998), Epipyropidae is a small family of ectoparasitc insects Punjab (Sanehdeep et al. 2003), Utarakhand (Kumar et belonging to the order Lepidoptera. Their larvae are al. 2008) and Chhatsgarh (Patre 2016). In the southern parasitc on Auchenorrhyncha, especially Fulgoridae states, Fulgoraecia was recorded in Karnataka (Ansari et and Membracidae (Pierce 1995). The family comprises al. 1989; Hugar et al. 2002) and Andhra Pradesh (Rajak 40 species worldwide (Heppner 2008), among which & Varma 2001). It has been considered as a potental Fulgoraecia (= Epiricania) melanoleuca (Fletcher, 1939) biocontrol agent against Pyrilla (Chhillar & Madan 1992; is economically very important as an ectoparasitoid of Pawar et al. 2002) and extensively used in management sugarcane lophopid planthopper Pyrilla perpusilla. of Pyrilla (Pawar et al. 2002; Seneviratne & Kumarasinghe Fulgoraecia melanoleuca has been reported from 2002; Rajak 2007; Pandey et al. 2008). Fulgoraecia India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (Kumarasinghe melanoleuca has proved its merit in in situ parasitzaton Editor: George Mathew, (Ex) Head, Forest Health Division, Kerala Forest Research Insttute, Peechi, India. Date of publicaton: 26 May 2020 (online & print) Citaton: Sankararaman, H., G. Naveenadevi & S. Manickavasagam (2020). Occurrence of Fulgoraecia (= Epiricania) melanoleuca (Lepidoptera: Epipyropidae) as a parasitoid of sugarcane lophopid planthopper Pyrilla perpusilla in Tamil Nadu (India) with brief notes on its life stages. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(8): 15927–15931. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5033.12.8.15927-15931 Copyright: © Sankararaman et al. 2020. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: DST PURSE II, Annamalai University. Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to Dr. M. Ayyamperumal, Central Integrated Pest Management Centre, Trichy and PG students 2018-19 for the help rendered in collecton. The partal fnancial aid of Government of India, DST PURSE PHASE II (2018-2019) through Annamalai University is gratefully acknowledged. 15927 J TT Plant hopper parasitoid moth Fulgoraecia melanoleuca Sankararaman et al. due to high multplicaton rate, comparatvely shorter life were kept separately in polythene bags, with the leaves cycle, survival under varied agro-climatc conditons, and changed as and when necessary and observatons made good searching ability of its host by larvae (Rajak 2006, on parasitoid emergence. 2007). In this paper, we report the natural occurrence From the egg masses collected, parasitzed and of this parasitoid from Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu, unparasitzed eggs were segregated by their colour India. (unparasitzed eggs being creamy white and parasitzed ones dark brown to black) and per cent parasitsm was Materials and Methods worked out by using the following formula as described During our regular feld surveys for collecton by Mishkat & Khalid (2007). Similarly, per cent parasitsm of parasitc insects from diferent ecosystems, F. of nymphs and adults was worked out. Parasitzed nymph melanoleuca was collected from sugarcane Saccharum (Image 1B) and adults (Image 1C) were diferentated ofcinarum at Andipalayam Village of Anna Gramam by presence of white cotony cushion on the back and block (11.77N & 79.55E) of Cuddalore District, Tamil pleural abdominal region of the host, respectvely. Nadu during July and August 2018. The number of egg masses, nymphs and adults of P. perpusilla was recorded and these life stages were collected every week and they A B C D Image 1 A–D. Life stages of Fulgoraecia melanoleuca: A—Eggs on the leaves of sugarcane | B—larva developing on Pyrilla perpusilla nymph | C—larva developing on adult Pyrilla perpusilla | D—Prolegs showing crochets. © H. Sankararaman. 15928 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2020 | 12(8): 15927–15931 J TT Plant hopper parasitoid moth Fulgoraecia melanoleuca Sankararaman et al. brown. Male pupa, short with genital scar in ninth No. of parasitzed eggs/nymphs/adults Per cent egg/nymph/ abdominal segment. Female pupa larger (compared to adult parasitsm = –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– x 100 male) with eighth and ninth abdominal segments fused Total no. of eggs/nymphs/adults and genital pore is present on the fused segment (Kumar et al. 2015). Anus in tenth abdominal segment of pupa The various life stages of F. melanoleuca (Images 1 & in both the sexes. 2) were also observed. Adults (Images 2C, 2D, 2E): Exhibit sexual dimorphism, diferences in antennae, hindwing Results and Discussion coloraton and genitalia. Mouthparts reduced in both In our observatons during July and August, all the the sexes, haustellum absent. three stages of Pyrilla recorded higher parasitzaton Male: antennae bipectnate, 13-segmented, having during August (34.40%, 47.54%, & 45.09%, respectvely, long ciliated branches in each segment (Image 2E). Table 1) compared to July. As per earlier reports by Head with grey and thorax with black scales. Fore-wings Kumar et al. (2008), the acceleratng phase of the Pyrilla generally with grey scales entrely, but few specimens starts from early July and the populaton contnued with white scales up to discal cell, rest with grey scales. to increase at a faster rate from the second fortnight Hind-wings mainly with whitsh scales except costal onwards. Accordingly, parasitzaton also started from