Mealybugs and their Management in Agricultural and Horticultural crops

647 Pages·2016·21.52 MB·English

by  M. Mani

Editors
M. Mani · C. Shivaraju
Mealybugs
and their
Management in
Agricultural and
Horticultural crops
Mealybugs and their Management
in Agricultural and Horticultural crops

M. Mani • C. Shivaraju
Editors
Mealybugs and their
Management in
Agricultural and
Horticultural crops
Editors
M. Mani C. Shivaraju
I ndian Institute of Horticultural Research I ndian Institute of Horticultural Research
Bangalore , India Bangalore , India
ISBN 978-81-322-2675-8 ISBN 978-81-322-2677-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2677-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016930104
Springer New Delhi Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer India 2016
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Dedicated to my wife Vijayarani who was
involved with the work on mealybugs.
She had helped me to carryout extensive
surveys for mealybugs in different crops in
India. She has also played a major role in
fi nalising the draft on Mealybugs and their
Management in Agricultural and
Horticultural crops .

Foreword
C rop protection in the present day is as important as crop production. Pests
have plagued mankind from the beginning and will continue to vex the people
and thwart all their endeavors to the end. Mealybugs are sap-sucking insects
named for the powdery secretions covering the bodies. Mealybugs are soft-
bodied insects covered with waxy coating. They are sessile insects. They are
phloem feeders and suck the sap from all plant parts and also transmit some
plant disease thus causing serious economic losses to economically important
crop plants. Many of the mealybugs are arboreal and some are subterranean
feeding on the roots. They are windblown, and the spreading of mealybugs is
facilitated by wind. Within 2 days of hatching, they are also covered by waxy
coating making them hard to get killed with chemicals. Hence they are called
as “hard to kill insects”.
Mealybugs mostly live in protected habitats. They are found in cracks,
crevices inside the fruit clusters, lower surface of the leaves, etc. Since they
live in concealed plant parts, the chemicals will not reach the target pests
making chemical control ineffective. Many a time, mealybugs become abun-
dant in the fruiting phase of the plants. Several applications of insecticides are
needed for mealybug control. Thus frequent application of insecticides for
mealybug control leads to residue problem on the fruits, making unfi t for
export and hazardous to domestic market.
T his book covers all the basic and applied aspects of the mealybug species
ultimately useful to implement the integrated mealybug management in differ-
ent agricultural crops. The book covers the information on identifi cation of the
mealybugs, morphology, cytogenetics, taxonomy, molecular characterization
for identifi cation, biology, damage, mealybugs as vectors, seasonal develop-
ment, natural enemies, culturing of mealybugs, ant association, control mea-
sures, insecticide resistance and mealybug management in different crops.
T his book on M ealybugs and their Management in Agricultural and
Horticultural crops is fi rst of its kind since there is no comprehensive book
covering all aspects of mealybug available in the world. This will serve as a
guide for crop growers, state goverment offi cials and other stake holders
industry, besides researchers and students engaged in mealybug research and
development activities.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research N. K. Krishna Kumar
New Delhi 12 , India,
July, 2014
vii

Pref ace
Mealybugs throughout the world cause a variety of economic problems. The
most obvious damage is caused by the sucking habits of these insects. Heavy
infestations often cause stunting or death to the plant host. At times, mealy-
bugs have toxins and act as vectors of certain viruses detrimental to plant life.
I nformation on morphology, cytogenetics, taxonomy, molecular charac-
terization for identifi cation, morphology, biology, damage, mealybugs as vec-
tors, seasonal development, natural enemies, culturing of mealybugs, ant
association, control measures, insecticide resistance etc are covered in this
book. It also deals with the all the mealybug management practices, which
include monitoring of mealybugs, use of pheromones, cultural practices,
chemical control and biological suppression available in the world.
W e tried to accommodate almost all the important information generated
on the mealybugs up to 2014. A complete list of mealybug occurring in dif-
ferent crop growing regions of the world is also covered in this book, which
will be ready reckoner for the crops. We sincerely hope that this book will
provide useful information to many entomologists and students working on
mealybugs. It is a pleasure to thank all those people who gave help, sugges-
tions and encouragement in the preparation of our book M ealybugs and their
Management in Agricultural and Horticultural crops .
Bangalore, Karnataka, India M. Mani
C. Shivaraju
ix