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Life
history of the Potato Psyllid Bactericera
cockerelli (Homoptera: Psyllidae) in Controlled
Environment agriculture in Arizona
Abdullah
N. M. M
Department
of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Sana'a
University, Sana'a, Yemen,
E-mail:
abd_nasher@yahoo.co.in .
Accepted 14 December, 2007 |
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The life history parameters were studied for a western
isolate of
Bactericera
cockerelli (Sulc)
from a southern Arizona commercial tomato greenhouse (AZ -
06)
during 2006.
Life history parameters were determined at 26 - 27°C and 60
- 70% humidity, with a 12:12 day/night cycle. The mean
pre-mating period was
4.2
days, with a range of 3.8 – 5 days, and the mean pre-oviposition
period was 6.9, with a range of 5.9 – 8.0 days.
The mean incubation period for the egg stage was
6.7
days
(range
5.7
- 8.2
days),
with a nymphal period of 21.9 (19.1 - 23.8
days).
The total developmental period was 25 to 33
days,
with an average of 28.4
days.
The survival of eggs, nymphal stage and total (all stages)
survival was 62.7, 47.3 and 40.6%, respectively. The complete life
cycle at 26 - 27°C required 34.7
days, ranging from 29.9 to 37
days. Female’s fecundity was 231.8 eggs per female, with a range of
184.
The
longevity for single females and males when reared
separately from one another was 48.7 and 22.0
days.
In contrast, when males and females were reared together on
the same leaf they lived for the same number of days (41.5
days),
irrespective of sex. It is not clear if the discrepancies
noted here in life history traits are due to genetically
inherited differences among different psyllid isolates, as
they could as readily be modulated by environment and/or
even their histories of host plant association. Also, an
additional possibility by which differences in fitness
observed herein, compared to psyllid isolates studied
previously (for which no voucher specimens are available),
might be due to infection by some prokaryotes like
Wolbachia, which already reported in literature that
might influenced host fitness, e.g. fecundity and longevity.
Key
words:
Bactericera,
fecundity, longevity, life cycle, tomato pest. |
