Pakistan J. Agric. Res. Vol. 29 No.3, 2016 PIERID (LEPIDOPTERA: PIERIDAE) PESTS AND THEIR NEW CRUCIFERS HOSTS IN POTHWAR REGION OF PAKISTAN Syed Waqar Shah* and Muhammad Ather Rafi* ABSTRACT:- Field surveys were conducted in Pothwar region during January 2012-December 2013 to find out the pierids pests on cultivated and non-cultivated cruciferous plants, the known cultivated hosts such as Raphnus sativus,, Eruca sativa Brassica napus ,, B. oleraceae B. oleracea var.italica and B. campestris were attacked by Pieris brassicae , P. canidia andPontia daplidice . Among above reported Pieridae species P. rapae is reported for the first time however,Pontia daplidice is also a new record from districts Rawalpindi and Chakwal andP. canidia from Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Chakwal. However, the non-cultivated host plants in the region wereCaspsella bursa-postoris, Coronopus didymus , Lepidium pinnatifidium, Arabidopsis thaliana and B. officinalis . Among non- cultivated hostsL. pinnatifidium was the new host for P. daplidice . C. didymuswas found common host for P. brassicae , P. canidia and P. daplidice from the study area. Among non-cultivated host plants A. thalianawas found for P. canidia and B. officinalis for P. brassicae and P. daplidice. All the non-cultivated host plants were new records from Pakistan however,L. pinnatifidium was new host of P. daplidice from the world, which was not reported earlier. Key Words: Crucifers; Host Plants; Lepidoptera; Pieridae; Pests; Pakistan. INTRODUCTION in cabbage make it extraordinarily curative food for treating cancer Family Cruciferae is a large fami- (USDA, 2009). ly comprising 400 genera and 3000 Cruciferous plants are attacked plant species, mostly herbaceous by a number of insect pests which rarely woody (Vaughan et al., 1976). cause severe damage to cauliflower, The cultivated crucifers are impor- cabbage and many other cruciferous tant vegetables; hence widely grown plants. The most important pests in all parts of the world. Among these from Order Lepidoptera belong to fa- cabbage,B. oleracea L., is rich with milies such as Pieridae, Noctuidae, important nutrients and is good Putellidae and Pyralidae. Among source of fibers, vitamins and mine- these families, family Pieridae rals, low in caloric food containing belongs to yellow and white high percentage of calcium, iron, butterflies, is a cosmopolitan family iodine, potassium, sulphur, and pho- comprising 83 genera under four sphorus. The anti-cancer properties subfamilies (Ehrlich and Raven, * National Insect Museum. Department of Plant and Environmental Protection, PARC Institute of Advance Studies in Agriculture, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan. Corresponding author: [email protected] 273 SYED WAQAR SHAH AND MUHAMMAD ATHER RAFI 1965; Vane-Wright, 1978; Courtney, thern and north-eastern parts of the 1986; Ackery, 1991; Janz and Nylin; Pothwar division are situated with 1998). Out of four subfamilies its two Himalayan foothills with an average sub-families Coliadinae and Pierinae height of 450 to 900 m. Biogeogra- represent their taxon in Pakistan. phically the Pothwar region is Orien- Their caterpillars feed upon a number tal and species those belonging to the of plants belonging to families Com- Oriental occur primarily in the Indus positae, Leguminosae, Rhamnaceae, plain, the Himalayan foothills and Zygophilaceae and Cruciferae continuous with those of Indian (Robert, 2001). For example Pierids Punjab and Rajasthan (Qadri, 1968). speciesAnaphaeis aurota Cram., A. mesentinaCram., P. brassicae, P. MATERIALS AND METHOD kruperiStdjr ., P. rapae L ., and P. deplidice L. feed on cauliflower, To explore the cultivated and cabbage and other cruciferous plants non-cultivated host plants and their (Alam,1969) and cause severe dam- pierids pests from Pothwar region, 75 age.P. brassicae has been reported as surveys were conducted in different major pest of cabbage and cauliflower localities of five districts i.e., Jhelum, (Ghouri, 1960; Mohyuddin, 1981) Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Attock and and in severe infestation plants often Islamabad during 2012-2013. From completely skeletinized to stalk and each district 15 localities of variable veins (Jones and Jones, 1974) be- habitats were visited such as natural cause both cauliflower and cabbage vegetation, cropped and urban areas. are the most preferred host of P. Each locality was visited fortnightly brassicae (Mushtaque and Mohyu- for collecting plant samples, egg, din, 1984; Rizvi et al., 2009; Yadav larvae, pupae, and adults butterflies and Barwal, 2008). From Pakistan starting from January 2012 till the reported cultivated cruciferous host end of December 2013. plants ofPieridae species were Brassicasp., B. oleraceae, B.napus, Larval Collection and Rearing B. campestrisand R. sativus while Larval host plant flora was re- non-cultivated were Capsella bursa viewed, from published records (Bin- postoris, Caronopus didymus, Sisym- gham, 1905; Talbot, 1939; Robert, briumirioand Lepidium repens 2001; and Robinson et al., 2001). (Alam,1969). Random search was made to During this study both cultivated observe and record data for the imm- and non-cultivated cruciferous host ature stages i.e., number of eggs and plants and their pierids pests were larvae (with their respective stages) explored from Pothwar region of Paki- on their host plants. Some eggs or stan. Pothwar division of Pakistan is larvae were collected with their host politically a part of the Punjab pro- o plants for rearing in laboratory for vince of Pakistan, located at 32.5 N to further confirmation of butterfly after ooo 34.0 N latitude and about 72 E to 74 emergence. All collection were initia- 2 E longitude, covering 23161 km and lly placed in small plastic petri dishes comprising five districts namely Att- of 55 mm × 30 mm diameter the base ock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Rawalpindi of the leaf or branch containing eggs and Islamabad (GoP, 1997). The nor- was secured with moistened cotton to 274 PIERID PESTS AND THEIR NEW CRUCIFERS HOSTS reduce desiccation. Petri dishes were RESULTS AND DISCUSSION placed in small cages (6”×6”×6”) for further rearing. All rearing cages were Four species of subfamily Pie- observed at least after 12 h daily to rinae belonging to two genera were observe egg, and larval developments. identified which were found in study The cages were regularly cleaned by areas. Among four reported pierids removing frass. After emergence of species three species belong to genus adults, the butterflies were identified. Pieris, P. brassicae, P. canidia and P. rapaewhile, one species P. daplidice Identification was recorded from genusPontia . The identification of the collected Three species P. brassicae, P. canidia specimens of pierids and their host andP.daplidice were reported on six plants were made to possible taxo- cultivated host plants such as B. nomic taxa by using literature of pre- napus, B.oleraceae, B. oleraceae var. vious workers like Bingham (1905); italica, B. campestris, R. sativus, and Talbot (1939); Kitamura (1964); E.sativa and, four on non-cultivated Stewart (1982); Haribal (1992); Gay et crucifers plants i.e., C. didymus, B. al. (1992); Gunathilagaraj et al. officinalis, L. pinnatifidiumand A. (1998); Naz et al. (2001); Feltwell thaliana. However, among non- (2001); Bhaskaran and Eswaran cultivated hostL. pinnatifidium was a (2005); Jafri (2011); Robinson et al. new host forP. daplidice . While cruci- (2012); Olive et al. (2012); Braby fers plantC. didymus was common (2012); Kaneria et al.(2013). host forP. daplidice, P. canidia and P. brassicae, plant A. thaliana was Relative Abundance and Perce- found host forP. canidia while B. ntage officinalisfor P. brassicae and P. The relative abundance and per- daplidice. All the non-cultivated host centage of each species along with plants were new records from their host plants were calculated by Pakistan, however; L. pinnatifidium using formula: was new host ofP. daplidice which was not earlier reported from any part ni of the globe as a host for pierid Relative Abundance = species. However, adults of P. rapae N were collected from the study areas where, but its larvae were not found on any th above reported host plant of the areas ni = Number of individuals in i species and ().Table 1 N = Total number of individuals in Pontia daplidice the sample. (Lannaeus, 1758) % = R x 100 Distribution Pothwar Through relative abundance and During current study P. daplidice percentage the most common and the was collected from Jhelum, Rawal- least common insect were deter- pindi, Chakwal, Attock and Islam- mined. abad districts. 275 SYED WAQAR SHAH AND MUHAMMAD ATHER RAFI Table 1. Number of different stages of pierids species on cultivated and non- cultivated Crucifer plants in 2012 and 2013 Butterflies Name Pontia Pieris Pieris Pieris daplidice brassicae canidia rapae Host Plants ELPAELPAELPAELPA 2012 Coronopus didymus* 5 3 22060 12 4 5 22 --- Lepidium 7 2 1 65 15 3 6 11 --- pinnatifidium* 40 25 2 Arabidopsis thaliana* --- - 221 --- Brassica officinalis* --- 55 16 7 --- --- B.napus 12 4 2 31 85 20 6 55 9 5 2 43 ---4 Raphanus sativus 15 5 1 57 17 81143 --- Eruca sativa 6 1 2 59 12 7 --- --- Brassica oleraceae --- 49 15 5 --- --- B. oleracea var. --- 55 21 8 --- --- italica B.campestris -- 72 18 4 --- --- 2013 Coronopus didymus* 10 5 4 50 75 6 2241 --- Lepidiumpinnatifidium* 8 6 3 70 8320 33135 --- 3 Arabidopsis thaliana* --- - - 2 6 0 --- Brassica officinalis* --- 60 5 2 --- ---5 B.napus 15 9 6 87 80 6 4 42 55242 --- Raphanussativus 18 8 4 75 7 2 6