Damage Assessment of Sugarcane Whitefly Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett and Population Dynamics on Seven Commercial Varieties in Southwest of Iran

Abstract

Sugarcane is an important industrial crop in Iran, and this crop is vulnerable to attack by several arthropod pest species. Sugarcane whitefly Neomaskellia andropogonis (Corbett) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a relatively new emerging pest which affect sugarcane fields in late summer. Field trials were carried out during early September until late November 2015 at Salman Farsi Agro-Industry, Ahwaz, Iran. Seven sugarcane varieties, CP69-1062, CP57-614, SP70-1143, CP73-21, IRC99-01, CP48-103 and IRC99-02, were tested in these trials. The field trials were conducted in a randomized block design with five replications. In each sampling date, 15 whole stalk of each variety plot (75 whole stalks for each variety) were selected randomly at different parts of plot for damage assessment. The percent of infested stalks and leaves, the number of adults, pupa and nymphs were assessed. Then, the parasitism rate of Encarsia inaron Walker and Eretmocerus delhiensis Mani on nymphal stages were assessed. The results showed that there were significant differences among varieties on percent of infested stalks and leaves. CP69-1062 was the most susceptible variety compared the others to whitefly damage with 47.3 and 32.8 % stalk and leaf damage at 5 November, respectively. In addition, the highest population peaks of whitefly (different stages) were recorded in CP69-1062. The population increased with the increase in relative humidity until 21 October, but then decreased as the temperature decreased. The results on parasitism level indicated that percent of parasitism was increased during sampling time and E. inaron was more frequent than E. delhiensis.