Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture. Vol. LXI, 2017 Print ISSN 2285-5653, CD-ROM ISSN 2285-5661, Online ISSN 2286-1580, ISSN-L 2285-5653 EMERGING PESTS OF ZIZIPHUS JUJUBA CROP IN ROMANIA Roxana CICEOI1, Ionela DOBRIN2, Elena Ştefania MARDARE1, Elena Diana DICIANU2, Florin STĂNICĂ2 1University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Laboratory of Diagnosis and Plant Protection of Research Center for Studies of Food Quality and Agricultural Products, 59 Marasti Blvd, District 1, Bucharest, Romania 2University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, 59 Marasti Blvd, District 1, Bucharest, Romania Corresponding author email: [email protected] Abstract The jujube crop (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is one of the oldest crops in China and in the world. Written indications about its technology (grafting, pruning, pest control etc) are older than 1500 years, when the jujube was one of the top five most important fruits in China, together with peach, apricot, plum and chestnut. Their nutraceutical qualities were highly appreciated, but also the beauty of the tree and the flower perfume, which legends says, made people fall in love. Nowadays, the crop is expanding, both in China and on the other continents, due to the high content of bioactive compounds that can help in lowering the blood pressure, in liver diseases, anaemia and also inhibit the growth of tumor cells etc. In Romania, the species grows sub spontaneous since the antique times and until the present moment no important pests had been reported. Still, giving the climatic changes in the last years, many pests became invasive and enlarge their host plant spectrum. On the USAMV Bucharest experimental field, we monitor the pests incidence and we identify few species that might become a threat: Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Metcalfa pruinosa Say (Homoptera: Flatidae), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera, Tephritidae) and Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). The other potential polyphagous pests, like weevils, fruit borers and moths, made insignificant damages on the fruits, but they should still be under careful observation. Data about the pests’ biology, damage and control are given. Key words: Zizipus jujuba, Halyomorpha halys, invasive alien species, polyphagous pests, quarantine pests. INTRODUCTION (Johnstone, 2014) and in Europe, research being done mainly in Romania, Itally and The jujube fruits are nowadays worldwide Macedonia (Cossio et Bassi, 2011, 2013; appreciated as an outstanding source of Markovski et Velkoska-Markovska, 2015; biologically active compounds, with high Stănică, 2002). Jujube leaves proved to have an nutraceutical value (Liu et al., 2014, Preeti et insecticide action against one of the major pest Tripathi, 2014). According to Gupta, 2004, in the world, Helicoverpa armigera, by jujube, along with date palms and grapes, start inhibiting the digestive and mitochondrial to be domesticated on the Indian subcontinent enzymes which lead to growth retarding of the around the year 9000 BC, together with wheat larvae (Varghese et Patil, 2005) and also and barley, which were cultivated from the against Tribolium confusum (Vasudha, 2012). very beginning of agriculture. In China, many Around the world, except its native written sources date back the jujube fruits 4000 environment, the Chinese date seems to be very years ago (Li et al., 2007, Liu et al., 2009) resistant to pests and no major damage had while in Romania it seems the tree was brought been registered until now outside the Asian via the Silk road 2000 years ago, (Stănică, continent borders (Yao, 2013). 2009). Jujube had been used both as crude and In 2013, Balikai et al. mention almost 130 pest dried in the Chinese Traditional Medicine, for species recorded on Ziziphus crop in India and its antitussive, palliative, analeptic and specify that 177 species of insect and non- nutraceutical properties, but also as a food and insect jujube pests were recorded around the food flavourant for thousands of years (Li et world. Only a few of them cause substantial al., 2007). It is cultivated also in Australia economic damage (Balikai et al., 2013). In 143 India, in an IPM governmental meeting in China destroys 15-20% of fruits, other minor 2015, 10 pests are cited as pests of national pests being Ceratitis capitata, Cydia molesta significance: the fruit flies Carpomyia and Polycrosis botrana. vesuviana Costa, B. zonata Saunders, B. No major research programs have been started dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae), the fruit borers until now regarding the resistance to pests, Meridarchis scyrodes Meyr (Lepidoptera: except some mentioned by Azam-Ali et al., Carposinidae), the green slug caterpillars 2006, against the fruitfly Carpomyia vesuviana Thosea sp. (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae), the and fruit borer Meridarchis scyrodes. grey hairy caterpillars Thiacidas postica During the last 20 years, since we first Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), the mites introduced the jujube tree in the experimental Larvacarus transitans Ewing (Tetranychoidea: fields of University of Agronomic Science and Tenuipalpidae), the ber beetles Adoretus Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, no pests were pallens Blanchard (Coleoptera: observed in the field, except Ceratitis capitata Scarabaeoidea), the grape mealybugs fly, starting with 2013 and no chemical Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hemiptera: applications were needed. The year 2016 was Pseudococcidae), the ber mealybugs totally exceptional from the point of view of Perissopneumon tamarindus (Green) climatic conditions and pests evolution, (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), the thrips especially for the new invasive species. Four Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: species were damaging the crop, namely Thripidae) and the termites Odontotermes Metcalfa pruinosa Say, Ceratitis capitata obesus (Isoptera: Termatidae) (Satyagopal, (Wiedemann), Nezara viridula (L.) and 2015). Four of these ten categories were also Halyomorpha halys (Stal), while another 2 cited by Azam-Ali et al. in 2006, as major pests species producing damages were not yet for Asia: the fruitfly, the fruit borers, the ber identified. Using online databases, we estimate beetles, the mites. The same authours included the possible risk raised by other recorded pests in their list the bark eating caterpillars of jujube crop in Romania. Indarbela quadrinotata, I. watsoni and I. tetraonis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), the MATERIALS AND METHODS hairy caterpillars Dasychira mendosa, Euproctis fraterna (Lepidoptera: The present article includes a comprehensive Lamantriidae), Thiacidas postica (Lepidoptera: literature review and also presents our own Noctuidae) and the lac insect Kerria lacca and research results. The literature review is based K. sindica (Hemiptera: Keridae). Acording to on the online and offline bibliographical Balikai, 2013, in Europe, the following jujube references that we found on the WEB and in pests were mentioned: Carpomyia vesuviana the University library. We used the following Costa (by Tominic, in 1954, in Yugoslavia), international databases: Web of Science - Core Carpomyia incompleta (Becker) (by Collection (Journal Citation Reports, Derwent Monastero, in 1970, in Italy), Bactrocera Innovations Index, Thomson Reuters), zonata (Saunders), (by Anonimus, in 2010, in SpringerLink Journals (Springer), Scopus the EPPO member countries, mentioned by (Elsevier), ScienceDirect Freedom Collection Sarwar, 2006 as jujube pest), Ceratitis capitata (Elsevier), PROQUEST Central, Oxford (Wiedemann) (by Martinez et al., in 2006, in Journals, CAB Abstracts, Google Scholar, Amposta, Spain), Hispa sp. (by Jolivet, in Agris Fao, simple google research. 1989, in Turkey), Grammadera clara Brunner Our observations were made in the von Wattenwyl, (by Liebermann, in 1970, in experimental field of USAMV Bucharest, in Spain). the new fruit species testing field of the Faculty In Romania, Stănică, 1997, mentions that the of Horticulture. Regular monitoring visits were most important pests of Ziziphus jujube are done weekly, starting from August 2016. For Carpomya vesuviana (Costa) and C. the presence of Ceratitis capitata adults, Tephri incompleta (Beck), dipterous that lay their eggs traps were used by the researchers of Research in July under the fruit epiderma and Carposina and Development Institute for Plant Protection, sasakii (Mats.), one Lepidopterous which in Bucharest, Romania and the results will be 144 presented by them (Chireceanu et al., 2013). In Ceratitis capitata is a highly invasive species, laboratory, during the chinese dates worldwide established, extremely polyphagous, morphometric determinations, we identified C. having a high economic impact, affecting capitata larvae and apreciate the number of production, rising the pests control costs and affected fruits, without precise counting. This limiting the international trade access (EPPO, prelimary observation will be follow-up in 1997). According to EPPO, 2011, C. capitata is 2017. the most serious pest of some fruits, including To check the scientifically accepted name, citrus, especially in the countries with a warm, spelling, alternative names and geographical Mediterranean, tropical or subtropical climate, distribution of pest species, we used the online but the species is spreading to the north and the Catalog of life databases, which holds essential recent climate changes makes a larger area information on the names, relationships and suitable for its establishment. Its presence,