Aphids
of ornamental plants and winter vegetables and their aphidiine parasitoids
(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Aligarh region, Uttar Pradesh
UzmaRafi 1, Mohd. Kamil Usmani 2 & Mir Samim Akhtar3
1,2Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,
Uttar Pradesh 202002, India
3Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Email:2 usmanikamil94@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Date of publication (online): 26 August 2010
Date of publication (print): 26 August 2010
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: R.K. Avasthi
Manuscript
details:
Ms #
o2399
Received
06 February 2010
Finally
accepted 07 July 2010
Citation: Rafi, U.,
M.K. Usmani & M.S. Akhtar (2010). Aphids of ornamental plants and winter
vegetables and their aphidiine parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Aligarh
region, Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(9): 1162-1164.
Copyright: © Uzma Rafi,
Mohd. Kamil Usmani & Mir Samim Akhtar 2010. Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any
medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing
adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: The authors
are greatly thankful to Prof. Asif Ali Khan, Chairman, Department of Zoology,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh for providing necessary facilities through
out study. Thanks are also due to
Prof. Shujauddin for his guidance and Mrs. Asna Ghani for her help during
course of study.
India has tremendous scope for the earning of foreign exchange by
exporting ornamental plants and cut flowers round the year. The production of Roses, Carnations,
Chrysanthemums and Gladioli at a very cheaper rate is possible in our country
but still cannot compete with other nations (Holland and China) due to lack of proper transportation
facility at required time. At
present the floriculture in the country is not only meeting the domestic
requirements, but its export has gone up to 78 (Indian National Rupees) crores (1
crore = 10 million) in 1998 and only from Roses 75.17 crores (Atwal & Dhaliwal 2002).
On the other hand, vegetables provide adequate quantities of
vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and minerals. The existing area under vegetable cultivation in India is
around 7.98 million hectare with a production of about 129.08 million metric
tones. In terms of production, India is second only to China (Johnson et al.
2008; Indiastat 2010).
Both the vegetable crops and ornamental plants are heavily attacked
by aphids. Aphid parasitoids
(Aphidiine) are very important control agents for aphid pests in a variety of
agricultural and horticultural crops (Hagvar & Hofsvang 1991). Aphidiines are specific solitary
endophagus parasitoids of Aphids (Stary 1970; Stary & Ghosh 1983). In the present study an attempt was
made to parasitoids complex of aphids associated with winter vegetables and
ornamental plants in Aligarh.
Material and Methods: The
collections of host insects were made during the period from October to March,
2005-06 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Small twigs of host plants, infested with colonies of aphids, were
brought to the laboratory and their cut ends were placed in water to prevent
quick withering of the leaves. During the collection, every care was taken to avoid the mixing of
different species. As soon as the
parasitized aphids were mummified, they were separated in different tubes
covered with muslin cloth. A slip
was fixed to each tube indicating serial number, host, date and place of
collection. Some healthy aphids were preserved in 80% alcohol with few drops of
glycerin for the proper identification of host species. The tubes were examined daily in the
morning for the emerged parasitoids. After emergence parasitoids were transferred to separate tubes. Later on, the parasitoids were killed
by the vapours of ethyl acetate. The dead parasitoids were collected by means of a brush kept in 80%
alcohol. Some specimens were mounted
on triangular cards for proper identification.
Results and Discussion: The present study is confined to the aphidiine parasitoids complex of aphids associated with winter vegetables and ornamental plants in Aligarh. Fourteen different winter vegetables and 13 ornamental plants were found in this region (Table 1). There are 14 species of aphids found to be attacked on all these species of plants, out of these only Pentalonia nigronervosa is found as monophagus species while other are polyphagus. Among them Aphis craccivora, A. corrianderi, A. gossipii, Acrythosiphon pisi, Bravicoryne brassicae, Lipaphis erysimi, Myzus persicae, Pentalonia nigronervosa, were observed as a regular pests of 12 plant species (Table 1), while Aphis gossipii, A. fabae, M. persicae, were also serious pest of four plant species though sporadic nature (Table 1). Macrosiphoniella sanborni, Hydaphis corriandri, Pentalonia nigronervosa, Lipaphis erysimi, Acrythosiphone pisi, Macrosiphum rosaeformes, were regular pests of six plant species. Aphis craccivora, Uroleucon compositae, Aphis fabae, Aphis spiraecola, Aphis gossypii, Rhopalosiphum nymphae were observed as sporadic pests of seven plant species (Table 1).
Seven species of aphidiine parasitoids viz., Aphidius colemaniViereck, Aphidius
smithi Subba Rao & Sharma, Binodoxys indicus (Subba Rao & Sharma), Diaeretiella
rapae (MÕIntosh), Lipolexis gracilis Foerster, Lipolexis oregmae (Gahan), Lysaphidus qadrii Shujauddin were found
parasitizing nine aphid species (Table 1).
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