107. First report of Greenidea ficicola in Tunisia. M. Ben ... - Iresa

Short CommunicationFirst report of Greenidea ficicola in TunisiaMonia Ben Halima-Kamel, Institut Supérieur Agronomique, Chott Mariem 4042, Sousse,Tunisia._______________________________________________________________________ABSTRACTBen Halima-Kamel, M. 2009. First report of Greenidea ficicola in Tunisia. Tunisian Journal ofPlant Protection 4: 107-110.Greenidea ficicola was encountered for the first time on 2007 in Ficus nitida in Sahline location. Then,it was recorded during 2008 in other Ficus species in different areas of Tunisian Sahel coast such asMonastir, Sahline, Ouardanine and Sousse. Some morphological and biological aspects of this aphidare described in this paper.Keywords: Greenidea ficicola, Ficus nitida, Tunisia.__________________________________________________________________________Greenidea ficicola (Fig. 1) belongs tothe order Hemiptera, suborderSternorrhyncha, family Aphididae and thesubfamily of Greenideinae. This family ischaracterized by antennae with 5 or 6segments, terminal processes oftenshorter and rarely more than twice as longas base of last segment (Fig. 2) and thefrontal tubercular is plate (Fig. 3). Thesiphunculi of this subfamily are conical orlong and tubular and are bearing manyhairs and sometimes a pattern of palereticulation (Fig. 4). Characteristic caudaof Greenideinae is usually either broadlyrounded (Fig. 5) or triangular, nevertongue shaped or knobbed. Apterae of G.ficicola are pear-shaped, yellowish-brownto dark brown and the length of its bodyis 1.7-2.0 mm (Fig. 1 a, b). Thesiphunculi are dark brown, curvedoutwards distally, about 0.35 of bodylength in apterae (Fig. 1 a) and 0.7 ofCorresponding author: M. Ben Halima-KamelKamonia_tn@yahoo.frAccepted for publication 18 November 2008body length in alatae (Fig. 1 b) (5). Thisaphid is characterized by its monoecy andit is sometimes ant-attended; but itsbiology is little known (5) as it is the casefor most species of the Greenideinae. Allthese characteristics are described onspecimens that we collected in Tunisiaand photographed.Greenideinae species are generallypresent in Asia (4). Particularly, G.ficicola is distributed extensively in India,Bangladesh, Nepal, eastern Siberia,China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Java,Sumatra, Malaya. Therefore, this aphidhas been observed in Australia, USA andAfrica (Burundi) (6). Recently, it wasobserved in Florida (USA) (8) on 2002, inBrazil on 2003 (10) and in Italia on 2005(1) in different Ficus spp., but it has notbeen signaled in North Africa (2, 3, 7).In Tunisia, we observed G. ficicola forthe first time in Ficus nitida (Moraceae)on April 2007 in Sahline location. Thisinsect was later encountered in otherlocations of the Tunisian Sahel coastalarea and is now collected from Ficus spp.in many locations such as Monastir,Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 107 Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009

Sahline, Ouardanine and Sousse on 2008.Therefore, these observations show anextension of the distribution range of G.ficicola in Tunisia giving anotherexample of biological invasion by anaphid in Tunisia, similar to the earlierinvasion with Pterochlorides persicaealso from Asia (11). G. ficicola livesmainly at the lower side of young leavesand on shoots of Ficus spp., but there areIndian records in other hosts. In this case,it was indicated (5) that this aphid can bemet on dicotyledonous trees and shrubsand lives mainly in shoots and youngfoliage of trees, particularly Fagaceae, butalso Moraceae, Betulaceae, Juglandaceaeand less commonly on members ofevolutionary more recent families such asMyrtaceae, Rosaceae and Rubiaceae (9).The presence of this pest causes enrolledleaves and recovered leaves and fruitswith honeydew on F. nitida. Thesedamages induced weakening of treesconsidered among the most widespread inthe urban zones and further studies aboutG. ficicola as a possible pest on figorchards in Tunisia are recommended.Two factors may explain theoccurrence of G. ficicola in Tunisia.Firstly, exotic and native Ficus speciesare widely planted as ornamental trees inparks or streets and this offers many hostplants to this aphid. Trades with Asiancountries have increased in the past twodecades increasing the probability oftransporting accidentally this aphid in oron goods from this region of the world.Fig. 1. General appearance of G. ficicola (A: Apterae, B: Alatae, C: Larva).Fig. 2. Antennae of G. ficicola (I, II, III, V, V, VI, and VII: articles).Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 108 Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009

Fig. 3. Frontal tubercular of G. Ficicola.Fig. 4: Siphunculi of G. ficicola.Fig. 5: Cauda of G. ficicola.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe author is grateful to Dr. Faouzi Haoula for plant determination.__________________________________________________________________________RESUMEBen Halima-Kamel M. 2009. Première observation de Greenidea ficicola en Tunisie. TunisianJournal of Plant Protection 4: 107-110.Greenidea ficicola a été rencontré pour la première fois sur Ficus nitida en 2007 à la localité deSahline. Ensuite, il a été observé durant 2008 sur d’autres espèces de Ficus dans différentes régionscôtières du Sahel tunisien telles que Monastir, Sahline, Ourdanine et Sousse. Quelques aspectsmorphologiques et biologiques de ce puceron sont décrits dans le texte.Mots clés : Greenidea ficicola, Ficus nitida, Tunisie.______________________________________________________________________________Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 109 Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009

___________________________________________________________________________Ficus.2009Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 4: 107-110ملخصمنية آامل بن حليمة.‏بتونس.‏أول تقرير حول وجود حشرة المن Greenidea ficicolaعلى التين التصفيفىnitidaفيسنة على نباتتم العثور لأول مرة على حشرة المنمنطقة الساحلين.‏ ثم تم تسجيله أثناء على أنواع أخرى من التين في مناطق مختلفة من الساحل التونسي على غرارالمنستير والساحلين والوردانين وسوسة.‏ ويوجد في النص وصف لبعض الخصائص المورفولوجية والبيولوجية لهذاالحشرة.‏2007 التين التصفيفي . Ficus nitidaGreenidea ficicola2008،Ficus nitida،Greenidea ficicola :___________________________________________________________________________آلمات مفتاحيةالمنالتين التصفيفيتونسLITERATURE CITED1. Barbagallo, S., Bella, S., and Cocuiza, G. 2005.Rinvenimento dell'afide orientale Greenideaficicola su Ficus ornamentali in Italiameridionale. Informatore fitopatologico 2: 25-29.2. Ben Halima-Kamel, M. and Ben Hamouda, M. H.1998. Contribution à l’étude de la bioécologiedes aphides d’une région côtière de la Tunisie.Med. Fac. Landbouww. Univ. Gent, 63: 365-378.3. Ben Halima-Kamel, M. & Ben Mabrouk, M.1998. Les pucerons d’une région côtière duSahel tunisien. Revue de Note faunique deGembloux 35: 49-64.4. Blackman, R.L. and Eastop, V.F. 1984. Aphidson the world's crops: An identification Guide.Jhon Wiley & Sons Limited. 2 nd edition. NewYork. 476 p.5. Blackman, R.L. and Eastop, V.F. 1994. Aphidson the world's trees: An identification andinformation Guide. Wallingford, CAB, 986 p.6. Blackman, R.L. and Eastop, V.F. 2000. Aphidson the world's Herbacious plants and Shrubs:The Aphids. Second volume Jhon Wiley.Natural History Museum. New York. 1439 p.7. Boukris, S., Souissi, R., Turpeau, E., Rouze-Jouan, J., Mahamed, F., Ben Brahim, N., andHullé, M. 2007. Aphid (Hemiptera,Aphidoidea) diversity in Tunisia in relation toseed potato production. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr.43: 311-318.8. Halbert, S. E. 2004. The genus Greenidea(Rhynchota: Aphididae) in the United States.Florida Entomologist 87: 159-163.9. PaDIL. 2008. Pest and diseases image library.www.padil.gov.au/comparePestImages.aspx?pestIds.10. Sousa- Silva, C. R., Brombal, J. C., and Ilharco,F. A. 2005. Greenidea ficicola Takahashi(Hemiptera: Greenideidae), a new aphid inBrazil. Neotrop. Entomol. 34: 1023-1024.11. Trigui, A. & Cherif, R. 1987. Le puceron brun:Pterochlorides persicae (Cholodkovsky).Nouveau ravageur des arbres fruitiers enTunisie. Note de Recherche. Ann. INRATunisie 60: 12 p.----------------------------Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 110 Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009