Sugar Tech (Jan-Mar 2013) 15(1):94–97 DOI 10.1007/s12355-012-0176-7
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Natural Incidence of Leaf Miner Aphanisticus aeneus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Sugarcane Germplasm P. Mahesh • K. Chandran • T. Manjunatha S. Balan
•
Received: 30 April 2012 / Accepted: 14 August 2012 / Published online: 1 September 2012 Ó Society for Sugar Research & Promotion 2012
Abstract A leaf miner, Aphanisticus aeneus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), grub mining the sugarcane leaves results in destruction of leaf mesophyll. The incidence of the leaf miner A. aeneus infestation under natural conditions was recorded on 954 sugarcane genotypes maintained in the field gene bank of Sugarcane Breeding Institute Research Centre at Kannur. The leaf miner infestation was noticed from the first week of June to last week of August and the incidence ranged from 7.4 % (57 NG 202) to 62.5 % (57 NG 213) on leaf basis and 0.0–75 % on cane basis. None of the genotypes showed severe incidence range (81–100 %), however 4.93 % of genotypes were totally free from infestation (0–0 %). Among the Saccharum species, S. officinarum clones recorded the highest number of infested canes and leaves while it was the least in S. sinense and S. barberi clones. The number and length of mines was also more in S. officinarum clones and least in S. sinense. Keywords Sugarcane germplasm Saccharum spp. Leaf miner Aphanisticus aeneus
India ranks second in the world in terms of area under cultivation and production of sugarcane. Insect species feeding on sugarcane are diverse, numerous and discrete in geographical distribution. Worldwide sugarcane is attacked by a variety of insects from broad orders, such as Lepidoptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Isoptera (Leslie 2004) and in India about 200 species of insects were reported to attack sugarcane (Wabale and
Kharde 2010). A leaf miner, Aphanisticus aeneus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) infesting Saccharum genotypes and allied genera clones in field gene bank was first reported from India in 2002 (Mukunthan and Nirmala 2002). A related species A. cochinchinae seminulum was noticed on sugarcane in 2000 at Florida (Hall et al. 2005). The insect is native to Malaysia and Southeast Asia and was first described from specimens collected in Singapore (Obenberger 1929).This species was discovered in sugarcane at Hawaii during 1984 (Heu 1986a, b) and in Texas during 1994 (Wellso and Jackman 1995). It is known to attack sugarcane in Java (Indonesia) but is not regarded as an economic pest. Since detailed studies on this pest are not available, the present study was conducted to find out the range of incidence and reaction of sugarcane genotypes to this pest at Sugarcane Breeding Institute Research Centre, Kannur, Kerala, India. Natural incidence of the leaf miner, A. aeneus was recorded on Saccharum species which constitute a part of the sugarcane germplasm maintained at Sugarcane Breeding Institute Research Centre, Kannur. Each genotype was raised in 2 9 1 m rows with single replication in augmented design. All the recommended package of practices for cultivation of sugarcane was followed. The parameters recorded to assess the population of A. aeneus are total canes and affected canes, total leaves and affected leaves, position of the affected leaves, number of mines per leaf and length of the mines (cm). The per cent leaf damage and per cent stalk damage was calculated on the basis of following formulae: No: of damage leaves 100: Total no: of leaves No: of damage stalk Per cent stalk damage ¼ 100: Total no: of stalks
Per cent leaf damage = P. Mahesh (&) K. Chandran T. Manjunatha S. Balan Sugarcane Breeding Institute Research Centre, Kannur, India e-mail:
[email protected]
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Fig. 1 Adult of Aphanisticus aeneus
For recording length of mine for each accession, one infested leaf was randomly selected and measured a length of mine in cm. For recording number of mines of each accession, one infested leaf was randomly selected and counted a number of mine per leaf. To assess the extent of damage (leaves and cane) the genotypes were ranked based on natural infestation following Ghule et al. (1988) with slight modification i.e., the fifth class is divided into two categories as listed below. I (0 %) = No infestation II (1–20 %) = Very low III (21–40 %) = Low IV (41–60 %) = Moderate V (61–80 %) = High VI (81–100 %) = Severe
Fig. 2 Grub’s of Aphanisticus aeneus mining sugarcane leaf
The data thus obtained was subjected to ANOVA using SPSS package. Position of leaf harbouring when the leaf mine was found, the position of leaf infested was noted relative to the leaf associated with the first visible dewlap (FVD = 0) (numbering of leaves as per Clements and Ghotb 1969).
The leaf miner infestation was noticed from the first week of June to last week of August. The adult beetle is small, linear ovate (3.0 mm long and 1.5 mm wide), tapered at posterior end and glossy greenish black in colour with faint metallic reflections (Fig. 1). The eggs are laid singly close to the leaf margin on the lower surface of the leaves. The grubs mining on the lower side of sugarcane leaves results in destruction of leaf mesophyll tissues (Fig. 2) and each longitudinal mine extends 25–40 cm or more in length. The leaf miner incidence was noticed generally on leaf ?4, ?5 and ?6 from the first visible dewlap (FVD). On the other hand, occasionally it was found infesting the leaves which are close to the whorl i.e. ?2 and ?3 and the leaves
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as far as ?11. White et al. (2007) observed infestation of a lepidopteran leaf miner, Elachista saccharella species in Louisiana to attack almost all green leaves in sugarcane without any specific pattern. However, in A. aeneus, distinct pattern of feeding was observed and the occasional infestation of inner most and far away leaves may not be due to wider range of preference of leaf, but the extension of attack to lower leaves late in the season when young leaves were already colonized. Generally one leaf per stalk was infested, but occasionally infestation was observed in more than one leaf per stalk. The probable reason may be that, the preference of the miner is restricted frequently on leaf ?4, ?5 and ?6 leaves from the first visible dewlap (FVD). Only one mine was generally observed per leaf. However, more than one mine was noticed in the same lamina in 329 clones. As high as six mines were observed per lamina in three (28 NG 45, 57 NG 196, NG 77 234) clones. In Hawaii, nine mines have been reported on a single sugarcane leaf infested by A. cochinchinae seminulu Chang (1984) and Heu (1986a). The mines are observed on the leaf lamina, invariably adjacent to the leaf margin and mostly towards lower half i.e. close to the axis. The length of mines varied from 1.2 cm in ROUNDA (S. sinense) to 51.50 cm in 57 NG 125 (S. officinarum). In most instances the length of the mines varied from 25 to 40 cm but after 20 cm the mine took a ‘‘U’’ turns (Fig. 3). The ‘‘U’’ shaped longitudinal mines were initially narrow but gradually widened as they proceeded and became reddish brown colour. Similar findings have also been reported by Mukunthan and Nirmala (2002). In the leaves that showed more than one mine, the mine length was very shorts as compared to single mine. The mines that were less than 1.0 cm are the ones abandoned by the miner for unknown reasons. The leaf miner incidence varied widely among different genotypes tested in the present study. In the overall comparison S. officinarum had highest number of infested canes and leaves than the other species which may be due to the presence of broader fleshy leaves compared to other species. The per
Fig. 3 ‘‘U’’ shaped mines caused by Aphanisticus aeneus
Table 1 Reaction of Saccharum spp. against Aphanisticus aeneus on leaf basis
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Range of incidence (%)
S. officinarum
S. robustum
S. barberi
No. of clones
No. of clones
No. of clones
% of clones 1.88
14
21–40
64
8.60
8
5.70
4
9.50
2
6.70
7.63
41–60
3
0.40
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0.10
61–80
1
0.13
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0.03
81–100
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0.00
36
4.76 85.7
2
% of clones
660
87.8
2
No. of clones
1–20
123
6.42
% of clones
26
6.66
Mean (%)
0–0
89.0
9
% of clones
S. sinense
86.6
4.93 87.20
Sugar Tech (Jan-Mar 2013) 15(1):94–97 Table 2 Reaction of Saccharum spp. against Aphanisticus aeneus on cane basis
Range of incidence (%)
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S. officinarum
S. robustum
S. barberi
No. of clones
No. of clones
No. of clones
% of clones
% of clones
S. sinense % of clones
No. of clones
% of clones
Mean (%)
0–0
14
1.88
9
6.42
2
4.76
2
6.66
4.93
1–20
467
62.90
81
57.85
38
90.47
25
83.33
73.63
21–40
237
31.90
30
21.40
2
4.76
3
10.00
17.00
41–60
19
2.56
14
10.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
3.14
61–80
3
0.40
4
2.85
0
0.00
0
0.00
0.80
81–100
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0
0.00
0.00
cent leaf damage, length of the mines (4.50–51.50 cm) and number of mines (1–6) per leaves were also more in S. officinarum and in contrary the per cent leaf damage, length of the mines (1.20–30.30 cm) and number of mines (1–2) per leaves were least in S. sinense. However, the differences between species are not significant. On the basis of leaf infestation, 87 % of the genotypes came in the very low intensity (1–20 %) range, while the remaining was under 21–80 % range of intensity. None of the genotypes showed severe incidence i.e. 81–100 % range. Among four Saccharum species the incidence ranged from 7.41 % in 57 NG 202 (S. robustum) to 62.5 % in 57 NG 213 (S. officinarum) (Table 1). There were fourteen genotypes of S. officinarum viz., HAWAII ORIGINAL 26, IRENG MALANG, SUGAR DOCTOR, TOMHON ZWART, 28 NG 13, 51 NG 142, IJ 76 314, IJ 76 522, IJ 76 556, IK 76 29, IK 76 59, IK 76 65, NG 77 117, NG 77 142 and nine genotypes of S. robustum viz., DURUCA VICORIA, 28 NG 251, 57 NG 234, IJ 76-293, IJ 76-440, IJ 76-459, IJ 76-535, IJ 76-546, NG 77-108 and two genotypes of S. barberi CHIN, MUNGO-252 and two genotypes of S. sinense MCILKRUM and TEKCHACHIKI ISLAND were totally free from infestation, which constitute about 4.93 per cent of the total genotypes. The number of canes attacked by A. aeneus ranged from 0.0 to 80 %. Among the Saccharum spp. S. barberi and S. sinense showed 0.0–40 % range and S. officinarum and S. robustum 0.0–80 %range A. aeneus infestation. The percentage of clones free from attack was 1.88 and 6.42 in S. officinaurm and S. robustum and it was 4.76 and 6.66 in S. barberi and S. sinense The miner was found to infest all Saccharum species, among these S. officinarum species recorded the highest number of cane attacked while the number of canes attacked by A. aeneus was least in S. sinense and S. barberi. However, the difference in percentage of cane damage between species was not significant (Table 2). The germplasm collection belonging to the four species showed wide range of infestation against leaf miner which indicated that, clones with different level of resistance to this pest are available in the gene pool. Especially, the clones belonging to S. sinense showed very short mines
even after infestation and after infestation the pest was found to abandon the mines probably due to antixenosis which need further investigation. Acknowledgments The authors are thankful to Dr. N.V. Nair, Director, Sugarcane Breeding Institute for providing all facilities, keen interest and encouragement. We are very grateful to Dr. N. Mukunthan, Principal Scientist, Division of entomology, who was instrumental to initiate this work. We are also thankful to Dr. J. Srikanth, Principal Scientist, Division of entomology for his valuable suggestion and editing the manuscript.
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