20 Feb Psyllid Pests of Fruit Crops and their Management
फल फसलों के सिलाईड (Psyllid) कीट और उनके प्रबंधन Psyllids pests are major problem in fruit crops under Indian subcontinent. Psyllids pests feeds phloem sap form plants, belongs to series Sternorryncha of suborder Homoptera. The group comprises over 3000 species of psyllids in 235 recognised genera, distributed worldwide. Super family Psylloidea comprises 6 families viz., Psyllidae, Calophyidae, Phacopteronidae, Homotomidae, Carsidaridae and Triozide. Psyllids are free living and 15 per cent of known species of psyllids are gall inducers. Life cycle of psyllids involves an egg stage, five nymphal instars before becoming adult. Basic characters of Psyllid pests Adult psyllids resemble miniature cicads, ranging in length from 1-10 mm Both sexes posses two pairs of wings, forewings with harder constitency than hind wings Beak is short and three segmented Five nymphal instars, wingless, possessing fore wing and hind wing pads. Nymphs produce white waxy secretions Psyllids are dioecious and at emergence the sexes normally occur in a ratio of 1:1. Male and female produces sex specific and species specific acoustic signals during mating Economically important as pest, vector and biocontrol agent Biology of Psyllids Eggs of Psyllids The eggs are generally brown to black in colour, 1 mm long and ovoid in shape, although colour, size, and shape can vary slightly between species. Each female lays between 45 and 700 eggs, either in clusters of approximately 10-150...