Attractiveness of date and coconut palms to Myndus crudus and other homopterans.
Leafhoppers and plantoppers (Homoptera: suborder Auchenorrhyncha) were sample by sticky traps placed in mature coconut palms, Cocos nucifera L., and date palms, Phoenix spp. , (Mostly P. canariensis Hort ex Chab.) in street plantings in southeastern Florida, and by making counts of insects resting on young coconut and young date palms, P. dactylifera L. in an experimental planting in Fort Lauderdale. Myndus crudus Van Duzee (Cixiidae) was relatively more abundant in traps in mature coconut and date palms in street plantings compared with other Auchenorrhyncha. No statistically significant difference was found between the numbers of M. crudus attracted to these 2 palms species. Idioderma virescens Van Duzee (Membracidae) was second in abundance, followed by unidentified species of Cicadellidae. When true date palms of 54 varieties ('Deglet Noor', 'Thoory', 'Halawy', 'Zahidi') were sampled by occular examination on 6 different days during warmer months auchenorrhychous insects were nearly absent, while an average of 22.5-38.1 M. crudus were counted on young 'Jamaica tall' and 3 different color forms of 'Malaysian Dwarf' coconut palms planted in the same grove with the dates. Cedusa inflate Ball was also on the coconut palms. The results of sampling from mature trees strengthens the hypothesis that M. crudus may be a vector of lethal decline of date palms. The reason for the near absence of M. crudus and other Auchenorrhyncha from young true date palms is not know. The testing of varieties in field plantings for resistance to lethal declines may be prolonged because vectors may not feed on young date palms frequently enough to transmit disease.
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1980 : [Publisher not identified]
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| Subjects: | Enfermedades de las plantas., insectos vectores, Myndus crudus., Palma de aceite, |
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