Host Plant Range of Raoiella Indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in Areas of Invasion of the New World
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51641910 Host plant range of Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in areas of invasion of the New World Article in Experimental and Applied Acarology · September 2011 DOI: 10.1007/s10493-011-9487-8 · Source: PubMed CITATIONS READS 41 223 6 authors, including: Daniel Carrillo Divina Amalin University of Florida De La Salle University 92 PUBLICATIONS 635 CITATIONS 54 PUBLICATIONS 428 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Farzan Hosein Amy Roda University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 3 PUBLICATIONS 52 CITATIONS 66 PUBLICATIONS 1,037 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Hi Claudia, long time no hear...do you really want to know what I am doing now days? View project Compatibility of agrochemicals with entomopathogenic fungi for management of ambrosia beetles that vector the laurel wilt fungal pathogen attacking avocado trees View project All content following this page was uploaded by Daniel Carrillo on 30 May 2014. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Exp Appl Acarol (2012) 57:271–289 DOI 10.1007/s10493-011-9487-8 Host plant range of Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in areas of invasion of the New World Daniel Carrillo • Divina Amalin • Farzan Hosein • Amy Roda • Rita E. Duncan • Jorge E. Pen˜a Received: 9 September 2010 / Accepted: 23 July 2011 / Published online: 14 September 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Raoiella indica has spread rapidly through the Neotropical region where the mite damages economically and ecologically important plants. Three studies were con- ducted to determine the host plant range of R. indica, using the presence of colonies containing all life stages as an indicator of reproductive suitability. Periodic surveys at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Miami Dade County, FL, USA) and the Royal Botanical Gardens (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) identified 27 new reproductive host plants. The reproductive suitability of two dicotyledonous species and three native Florida palm species was examined. An updated list of reproductive host plants of R. indica is presented. All reported reproductive hosts (91 plant species) of R. indica are monocots from the orders Arecales (Arecaceae), Zingiberales (Heliconiaceae, Musaceae, Strelitziaceae, Zingiberaceae) and Pandanales (Pandanaceae). Most are palms of the family Arecaceae that originated in areas of the Eastern Hemisphere; about one fourth of the reported hosts are native to the New World and could be considered new host associations of R. indica. Six years after the initial detection in the Caribbean, R. indica has expanded its host plant range. Here we report 27 new reproductive host of R. indica that represent 30% of increase on previous host plant records. As this mite continues spreading in the Neotropical region a great diversity of plants is potentially affected. D. Carrillo (&) Á R. E. Duncan Á J. E. Pen˜a Department of Entomology and Nematology, Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Homestead, FL 33031, USA e-mail: dancar@ufl.edu D. Amalin University of Florida, 13601 Old Cutler Rd., Miami, FL 33158, USA F. Hosein Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources, Centeno, Trinidad and Tobago A. Roda USDA, APHIS, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Miami, FL 33158, USA 123 272 Exp Appl Acarol (2012) 57:271–289 Keywords Raoiella indica Á Invasive species Á Neotropics Á Reproductive hosts Á Monocotyledons Á Arecaceae Á Palms Introduction Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), also called the red palm mite, is a phytopha- gous mite that recently invaded the western hemisphere. This mite is a polyphagous species that can reach very high populations and cause significant damage to various plant species. It is also the first mite species observed feeding through the stomata of its host plants (Ochoa et al. 2011). Through this specialized feeding habit R. indica probably interferes with the photosynthesis and respiration processes of their host. However, the damage caused by this species to most of its host plants has not yet been characterized. In coconut, R. indica feeding causes an initial bronzing of the leaves which later turns into necrotic tissues. During 2004, R. indica was detected in Martinique and St. Lucia, and rapidly expanded its geographical range throughout the Caribbean (Rodrigues et al. 2007; Etienne and Flechtmann 2006; Kane et al. 2005). In December 2007, R. indica was detected in the West Palm Beach area of south Florida (FDACS 2007) and spread to six counties of the state thereafter. Raoiella indica has also reached Venezuela (Va´squez et al. 2008), Brazil (Navia et al. 2011), Colombia (Carrillo et al. 2011) and Mexico (NAPPO 2009). Concerns have arisen about the consequences of the establishment of this exotic species in the Neotropical region where economically and ecologically important plants could potentially be affected. Most studies and reports of this mite have focused on one of its more suitable and economically important host, Cocos nucifera (Arecales: Arecaceae) (Carrillo et al. 2010; Pen˜a et al. 2009; Sarkar and Somchoudry 1989; Nageshachandra and Channabasavanna 1984, 1983). Few studies have addressed the potential effects of R. indica on other host plants in the New World. In 2006, Welbourn made available a list of reported host plants of R. indica in the Caribbean region compromising 59 plant species. All the reported plants were monocotyledons that belong to the orders Arecales [family Arecaceae (42 species)], Zingiberales [families Musaceae (6), Heliconiaceae (5), Strelitziaceae (2) and Zingibera- ceae (3)] or Pandanales [family Pandanaceae (1)] (‘‘Appendix’’). In 2009, Cocco and Hoy published an expanded list of 72 reported host plants. Interestingly, these reports included 7 dicotyledon plant species from the families Aceraceae (1), Celastraceae (1), Myrtaceae (2), Lamiaceae (1) Oleaceae (1) and Fabacaeae (1) raising the question whether this mite is a highly polyphagous species or a stenophagous species that feeds and reproduces on relatively few plant families within the orders Arecales, Zingiberales and Pandanales. As this exotic species keeps expanding its geographical range in the New World, a compre- hensive study on the host plant range of R. indica is needed in order to devise feasible management options for the pest. We present results of three studies that contribute to the knowledge of the host plant range of R. indica in the New World. We evaluated the potential host range of red palm mite by surveying two botanical gardens that had extensive tropical plant and palm col- lections located in areas of recent R. indica invasion (Miami Dade, FL, USA and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago). The reproductive suitability of two dicotyledonous species and three native Florida palm species was examined through infesting the plants with known numbers of R. indica in a plant nursery. Further field surveys evaluated the viability of the Florida native palms as reproductive hosts. Based on these studies, we present an updated host plant list and discuss the known distribution and phylogenetic placement of the reported reproductive hosts of R. indica. 123 Exp Appl Acarol (2012) 57:271–289 273 Methods Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden survey, Florida, USA This botanical garden, located in the Coral Gables area of Miami Dade County, has a large collection of taxonomically arranged and well-documented tropical plants with emphasis on palms. All plants in the Palmetum area of the garden reachable with an extension pole (5 m) were inspected three times (25 February 2009, 24 November 2009 and 25 February 2010). Plants were inspected by looking at the underside of five fronds per plant using a hand lens (209). Plants with at least one R. indica individual were recorded and samples of 5 pinnae/plant were taken to the laboratory to count the total number of individuals (eggs, immatures and adults) per pinna under a dissecting microscope (509). Leaf area was measured using a leaf area meter (LI-3000C Portable area meter; LI-COR Biosciences) and mite densities estimated by dividing the number of mites by the area per pinna. Plants with established R. indica colonies, having all developmental stages (egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and adult), were considered reproductive hosts. Plants with only R. indica adults were considered non-reproductive hosts. In addition, all natural enemies (predators or pathogens) found associated with R. indica were also recorded and counted. The study was conducted approximately 6 years after the first report of R. indica in the area. Royal Botanical Gardens survey, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Twenty five species of palms were selected from this 61.8 acre botanical garden located at 10.675284, -61.513696. Three trees were selected for each species when possible. The trees received no regular fertilizer or pesticide application, but mowing was performed periodically around them. The size of the palm depended on the species and ranged from 2 to 8 m tall. One frond from the upper 1/3rd of the canopy (leaf 3 from the central spike), the middle 1/3rd canopy and the lower 1/3rd canopy were removed during the dry season (March 26–April 14, 2008) and again in the rainy season (May 29–June 11, 2008). The fronds were individually placed into plastic bags and transported to the laboratory in coolers. All stages of red palm mites (adults, nymphs, larvae and eggs) and phytoseiid motiles (adults, nymphs and larvae) were counted using a mite brushing machine (Leedom Engineering, Twain Harte, CA). As in the Fairchild Garden study, plants with R. indica colonies of all stages (egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and adult) were considered reproductive hosts while plants with only R. indica adults were considered non-repro- ductive hosts. The surface area of each of frond was estimated taking the width and height for the section and calculating the area using base 9 height in order to account for the triangular shape of the sample.