Distribution and Feeding Hosts of Mango Twig Borers in Mango Growing Provinces in Luzon, Philippines

Leticia Adoro, Florida Dmingo and Elizabeth N. Farin

Research, Extension and Training Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, Iba, Zambales, Philippines

Received: July 3, 2017 Accepted: September 11, 2017 ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to determine the distribution and occurrence of mango twig borers and also identified their feeding hosts. Results indicate that mango twig borers were found in many mango trees in almost all Luzon provinces such as Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas and Laguna, except in Isabela, Cagayan, and Camarines Sur. Occurrence of mango twig borers ranged from 20% to 100%. Callimetopus albata species was found only in Laguna, Rizal and Quezon. The two species were not only damaging mango trees but other plants.Twenty nine plant species were identified as alternate feeding hosts of C. capito. Twenty nine feeding hosts of C capito were identified in the different mango growing areas in Luzon. Most were trees found in Zambales (14) followed by Pangasinan (7), Nueva Viscaya (12) and Laguna (2). Only one was identified from Abra. KEYWORDS : Occurrence, Distribution, Mango twig borers, Luzon, Philippines

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is one of the top producers of mango with “Carabao” as its most important cultivar (PCARRD, 2006). The “Manila Super Mango” is one of the dollar earner commodities in the Philippines, however, a declining trend in the production of mango has been observed in the past few years due to damage caused by insect pests and diseases. One of the most serious insect pests of mango in Luzon is the mango twig borer (Golez, undated). Mango twig borers which belong to the family Coleoptera and has two major species, Callimetopus capito (Pascoe) and Callimetopus albata (Newman) and are considered major insect pests of mango which affect yield due to damages on twigs and inflorescence. Otanes et al (1927) found that adults are not abundant but one female is capable of infesting about thirty (30) or more twigs before it dies, seldom fly, easily seen in the host plant and are common from June to September in Manila and its vicinity while Braza (1990) reported its abundance in Eucalyptus in Surigao del Sur from October to December. Trees heavily infested by mango twig borer may show many dry or cut stems that drop on the ground. Break-offs stems or dry stems on the canopy are signs of larval feeding inside the stem during heavy infestation (PCARRD, 2006). These dead/ dry stems give the tree the appearance of having been scorched by flames (Otanes and Toquero, 1927). High infestation has been reported by LGU in Rizal Province (Sundholm, 1998) and by mango growers in Central Luzon and Ilocos Region (SMARRDEC,1998) adversely affecting yield and therefore, income of mango growers. Although the yield reduction potential of twig borers has not yet been established, the larval damage characterized by the drying up of shoots and death of twigs directly affects yield through significant reduction in number of flowering shoots. In 2009, the life cycle of mango twig borer was established (Adoro, et al, 2009). Mango twig borer thrives during the entire mango production cycle. MTB feeds not only mango but on a various trees including ornamental plants making it a very serious pest of mango and other crops and trees in the PhilippinesThis study investigated the distribution, occurrence and alternate hosts of the mango twig borers in the different parts of the country particularly in major producing areas in the Philippines.

METHODOLOGY

Location of the Study Luzonwide survey on the occurrence of mango twig borers was done. The assessment was done in the major mango growing provinces in Luzon, Philippines namely, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, La Union, Abra, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Batangas, Cavite, Rizal, Quezon and Camarines Sur. To be taken from google

*Corresponding Author: Elizabeth N. Farin, Research, Extension and Training Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, Iba, Zambales, Philippines. 32 Adoro et al., 2017

Collection In each province, random sampling was done in an area with at least 20 bearing mango trees. Sampling area consisted of three municipalities per province, five barangays per municipality and two sites per barangay with a total of 30 sampling areas per province. The distribution of mango twig borers was assessed by determining the damaged twigs. Damaged and undamaged twigs per sq. meter quadrant from the top, middle and lower canopy of three randomly selected sample trees per sampling area were collected, counted and recorded. Collected egg, larvae, pupa and adult per sampling area were counted and placed in a clear bottle. The larvae were preserved while the egg, pupa and adult were reared in the laboratory.

The percent occurrence per square meter quadrant per province was computed using the formula: Percent occurrence = No. of infested trees/province x 100 Total no. of sample trees

Identifying Feeding Hosts of Mango Twig Borers Infested twigs aside from mango from different fruit trees from Zambales, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Pangasinan and La Union, Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Vizcaya were collected and dissected for the presence of larvae, pupae and adults. Larval nature of damage were compared with that of mango twig borers for any similarity and reared up to adult stage. Pupae present were likewise reared until their emergence to adult stage. In the laboratory and in the field third instar larvae of Callimetopus capito were transferred into drilled holes on fresh twigs of different fruit and forest trees available in San Marcelino, Campus like talisay, nangka, horseradish tree, kapok, mulberry, eucalyptus and others. The twigs were opened every other day to observe any feeding activity, death, molting, pupation etc. Destructive sampling was also done for laboratory examination. Adults were also placed individually in rearing bottles with twigs of the test plants and observed for any feeding activity until their death.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Distribution of mango twig borers in Luzon, Philippines Distribution of Callimetopus capito (Fig. 1-blue colored areas) has been found to cover mango growing areas in the entire Luzon island such as Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, La Union, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, and Laguna, Rizal, Camarines Sur and Quezon province. These areas are usually the growing areas for mango in the country. However, Callimetopus. albata can only be found in the southern Luzon particularly in the province of Laguna, Rizal and Quezon damaging not only mango but a wide range of fruit trees, forest trees and even ornamentals and spice crop.

Fig. 1. Distribution and occurrence of C. capito (blue) and C. albata (yellow) in Luzon, Philippines.

33 J. Basic. Appl. Sci. Res. , 7(10)32-38, 2017

The distribution of Mango Twig Borers, in Sibuyan Island has long been reported by Newman in 1840 (www.cerambycoidea/species) and Duffy (1968) reported also its distribution in the oriental region specifying the Philippine islands. Therefore, MTB lived in the Philippine territory centuries ago. Cendaña (1984) reported Callimetopus albatus (Newman) to be in abundance in Laguna. In Region I, all the mango trees in Pangasinan were observed to have been attacked by C. capito , 97.77% in La Union, 90% in Ilocos Norte, 92% in Abra and 87% in Ilocos Sur with moderate to heavy infestation m 2 (16.68%-36.46%) quadrant. The heavy infestation in La Union and Pangasinan was attributed to the decade-long existence of this insect in these areas (SMARRDEC, 1998). In Region II, 73% of the mango trees in Nueva Vizcaya were being attacked by C. capito maybe because of its proximity to Nueva Ecija which was reported to be heavily infested since 1998 (SMARRDEC). Although occurrence is high, infestation per square meter quadrant was only moderate (15.21%) probably because migration of C. capito from Nueva Ecija was just recent and since it takes a year to reproduce, infestation is slow, Cagayan and Isabela were found to be free from MTB damage and infestation from neighboring province is slow, hence, their spread is also slow. This maybe so because according to Otanes (1972), adult beetle seldom fly. In Region III, 97.78% of the trees in Bataan and Bulacan have C. capito damage, 94% in Zambales, 93.33% in Pampanga, 88% in Tarlac and 87% in Nueva Ecija while infestation (Fig 4) per square meter quadrant was observed to be slight (11.95%) to heavy (30.58 Since adult beetle seldom fly (Otanes & Toquero, 1927), therefore, they tend to infest trees until majority if not all of the twigs are dried, one female adult can infest 30 times or more twigs before it dies (Otanes & Toquero, 1927) therefore, a greater damage in the next generation is expected. With the more than 4 decades of existence (Duffy, 1968) and with the capability of each female adult of infesting more than 30 twigs a year (Otanes & Toquero, 1927), the spread is very much possible. In Region IV-A (CALABARZON), only the province of Rizal has high occurrence of MTB damage where 98.89% of their mango trees were being attacked by both C. capito and C. albata (Fig 2) but infestation per square meter quadrant was only moderate (18.96%) while in other provinces, occurrence was slight (20%) to moderate (36%) and infestation were also slight (2.07% - 3.81%). The high occurrence of MTB in Rizal can be attributed to its existence in the place since 1998 (Sundholm) and its proximity to Bulacan which is previously infested with MTB (SMARRDEC, 1998). Result conforms also with the findings of Cave et al in 2006 on M. mosieri, that spread of this insect was due to proximity to areas with existing infestation. The moderate infestation in Rizal province and slight infestation in Cavite (2.07%), Laguna (3.81%), Batangas (3.79%) and Quezon (2.335) was probably because some of the infested twigs had have fallen due to typhoon “Milenyo” since the survey in these provinces was done 2 weeks after the typhoon. The occurrence of two (2) species was attributed to its proximity to Laguna where the first Callimetopus albata was found (Cendaña, et al, 1984).

Fig 2. Percentage Occurrence of Mango Twig Borer per Province

34 Adoro et al., 2017

In Region V, mango trees were free from insect damage which may be due to typhoon that damaged wide range of vegetation in the area.

Feeding Hosts of Mango Twig Borer Callimetopus capito (Pascoe) and Callimetopus albata ( Newman). Twenty nine feeding hosts of C capito were identified in the different mango growing areas in Luzon. Most trees were found in Zambales (14) followed by Pangasinan (7), Nueva Viscaya (12) and Laguna (2). The availability of more feeding hosts in Zambales can be traced to more trees and plants growing in the area. In Abra, MTB fed in Bixa orellana tree (Table 2).

Table 2. Feeding hosts of Callimetopus capito found in the different mango growing provinces in Luzon Plant Species Province 1. Talisay ( Terminalia catappa ) Zambales 2. Nangka ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ) Zambales 3. Macopa ( Syzygium mallacensis ) Zambales 4. Mangrove ( Sonneratia alba ) Zambales 5. Baleteng liitan ( Ficus macrocarpa ) Zambales 6. Binunga ( Macaranga tanarius ) Zambales 7. Cashew ( Anacardium occidentale ) Zambales 8. Mulberry ( Morus alba) Zambales 9. Ipil -ipil ( Leucaena leucocephala) Zambales 10. Starapple ( Chrysophyllum caimito ) Zambales 11.Salisi ( Ficus benjamina var. bracteata ) Zambales 12.Sakat ( Terminalia mitens ) Zambales 13.Alibangbang ( Bauhinia sp .) Zambales 14.Gumamela ( Hibiscus rosa sinensis ) Zambales 15. Duhat ( Syzygium cumin i) Ilocos Sur 16. Avocado ( Persia americana) Ilocos Sur 17. Kamiring ( Semecarpus philippinensis ) Pangasinan 18. Himbabao ( Broussonetia luzonica ) Pangasinan 19. Tibig ( Ficus nota ) Pangasinan 20. Mabolo/Kamagong ( Diospyrus philippensis ) Pangasinan 21. Horseradish/Malunggay ( Moringa oleifera ) Pangasinan 22. San Francisco ( Codiaeum variegatum ) Pangasinan 23. Cacao ( Theobroma cacao ) Pangasinan 24. Sineguelas ( Spondias purpurea) Nueva Vizcaya 25. Longan/ Poncanitas ( Dimocarpus longan ) Nueva Vizcaya 26.Gmelina sp. Nueva Vizcaya 27. Pili ( Canarium ovatum) Laguna 28. Rambutan ( Nephelium lappaceum ) Laguna 29. Atswete ( Bixa orellana ) Abra

Damages of the shoots were found in various fruit trees and forest trees identified as feeding hosts of the mango twig borers. Previous literature indicates that the appearance of damage in Rambutan does not conform with what was published in the website (hort.purdue:educ/new crop/rambutan.html) that C. albata cannot be found in Rambutan trees. It was observed that only larva of C. capito survives per twig while in C. albata where 2-4 larvae can survive per twig (Fig 3). This is true because C. albata can infest a twig to as long as 1.22 m hence, death of larvae due to food competition is very slim unlike in C. capito where the longest infested twig recorded reached up to 13.5 cm only and eggs were oviposited very near each other in a twig, hence, food competition is very high resulting to killing the other larva (Cave et al, 2006). On the other hand, other feeding hosts which indicates damage of the other species of Mango Twig Borer, Callimetopus albata was seen in the seedlings of the following fruit tree species in Laguna: 1. Alupag ( Litchi chinensis sp ) 2. Borhal ( Artocarpus lakoocha ) 3. Binoloan ( Acmena acuminatissima ) 4. Jaboticaba (Myrciaria jaboticaba ) 5. Guayabilla ( Eugenia victoriana ) 6. Grumichama ( Eugenia dombey i) 7. Lovi-lovi (Flacourtia inermi s) 8. Myrciaria (Myrciaria sp )

35 J. Basic. Appl. Sci. Res. , 7(10)32-38, 2017

9. Nance ( Byrsonima crassifolia) 10. Pummelo (Citrus maxima ) 11. Uvaia (Eugenia pyriformis ) 12. Pili ( Canarium ovatum)

Fig. 3. Manifestation of MTB damage.

Zero Slight Heavy

Fig 5. Percentage Occurrence of Mango Twig Borer per Province

Conclusion

The mango twig borers were found distributed in the different province in Luzon. The two species of mango twig borers were found separately in the different provinces. Callimetopus. capito species of MTB was found in mango trees in almost all provinces in Luzon provinces such as Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas and Laguna, except in Isabela, Cagayan, and Camarines Sur while Callimetopus albata can only be found in Region IVA specifically in Laguna, Rizal and Quezon provinces. The insect has several alternate hosts such as trees and some ornamental plants such as Talisay ( Terminalia catappa ). Nangka ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ) Macopa ( Syzygium mallacensis ). Mangrove ( Sonneratia alba) Baleteng liitan ( Ficus macrocarpa ) Binunga ( Macaranga tanarius ) Cashew ( Anacardium occidentale ) Mulberry (Morus alba) Ipil-ipil ( Leucaena leucocephala) . Starapple ( Chrysophyllum caimito ) Salisi ( Ficus benjamina var. bracteata ) Sakat ( Terminalia mitens ) Alibangbang ( Bauhinia sp .) Gumamela ( Hibiscus rosa sinensis ) Duhat (Syzygium cumin i) Avocado ( Persia americana) Kamiring ( Semecarpus philippinensis) Himbabao ( Broussonetia luzonica ) Tibig ( Ficus nota ) Mabolo/Kamagong ( Diospyrus philippensis ). Horseradish/Malunggay ( Moringa

36 Adoro et al., 2017

oleifera ) San Francisco ( Codiaeum variegatum ) Cacao ( Theobroma cacao ) Sineguelas ( Spondias purpurea) Longan/ Poncanitas ( Dimocarpus longan ) Gmelina sp.

Recommendation Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, the following recommendations are posited:

1. Since mango twig borers were found in almost all the mango growing provinces in Luzon, a study on the control measures needs to be done to reduce the population and increase the productivity of mango. 2. Natural enemies of mango twig borer can be identified to reduce its population. 3. Removal of the existing alternate feeding hosts or avoiding the growing of the alternate host can reduce the population of mango twig borers

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