Paracoccus marginatus
| Paracoccus marginatus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male and female papaya mealybugs | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Sternorrhyncha |
| Family: | Pseudococcidae |
| Genus: | Paracoccus |
| Species: | P. marginatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Paracoccus marginatus Williams & Granara de Willink, 1992
| |
Paracoccus marginatus, commonly known as the papaya mealybug, is a small sap-sucking insect in the
Description
The adult female has a yellowish segmented, flattened oval body about two millimetres long covered with mealy wax. There are a number of short waxy filaments projecting around the margin. The ovisac is well developed and visible underneath the posterior part of the body. Sometimes the wax looks like cotton wool and oozes drops of fluid. The adult male is pinkish and about one millimetre long, with well-developed wings each marked with a small basal vein.[1] The antennae have eight segments in both sexes, a characteristic which distinguishes this species from the hibiscus mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus).[2]
Distribution
This species is believed to be native to Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico. It has also invaded Assam - a northeastern state of India.[6] It was recently noted in Réunion in the Indian Ocean.[7]
Host plants
The papaya mealybug feeds on over 55 plants in more than 25 genera. Economically important host plants include
Biology
The adult female deposits up to six hundred eggs into her ovisac over a period of one to two weeks. The eggs hatch ten days later and the crawlers, which resemble miniature versions of the adult female, disperse. There are four instars in the females and five in the males. The fifth instar male is a pupa in which the nymph undergoes metamorphosis into a winged adult.[2]
Damage
The papaya mealybug inserts its stylet into the epidermis of the leaf or the skin of fruit or stem and feeds on the plant sap. At the same time it injects a toxic substance into the plant which results in chlorosis, distortion, stunting, early leaf and fruit fall, the production of honeydew, sooty mould and possibly the death of the plant.[2]
Biological control
Natural enemies of the papaya mealybug include the mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), other lady beetles, lacewings and hoverflies. The larvae of several species of parasitoid wasp in the family Encyrtidae attack the papaya mealybug in its native range.
In 1999, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agricultural Research Service collected and reared four species of wasp from Mexico in a biological pest control experiment. They introduced them into Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and achieved a reduction of the papaya mealybug populations in both countries of over 95%.[9] All four wasps were observed parasitising second and third instars of the papaya mealybug, and Acerophagus papayae was the dominant species.[10] All four have since been mass-reared and released in Florida.[2]
References
- ^ a b National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f Walker, A., et al. Paracoccus marginatus. EENY-302. Featured Creatures. Entomology and Nematology. University of Florida IFAS. Published 2003, revised 2006.
- ^ Williams, D. J. and M. C. Granara de Willink. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. CAB International, UK, 644 pp.
- ^ Miller, D. R. and G. L. Miller. 2002. Redescription of Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae), including descriptions of the immature stages and adult male. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 104: 1-23.
- ^ "Papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus". National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ Sarma, A. K. "Invasion of papaya mealy bug, Paracoccus marginatus in Assam". Invasive Species Compendium. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. Archived from the original on 30 Nov 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ Hussain SI, Saleem MA and Freed S (2012). "Toxicity of some intsecticides to control mango mealybug, Drosicha mangiferae, a serious pest of mango in Pakistan" (PDF). Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 44 (2): 353–359.
- ^ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 2000. Control of the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Environmental Assessment (Supplement), June 2000. Riverdale, MD.
- ^ Meyerdirk, D. E. and W. C. Kauffman. 2001. Status on the development of a biological control program for Paracoccus marginatus Williams, papaya mealybug. Internal USDA, APHIS, PPQ Report.