Abstract
Palm frond borer Phonapate frontalis F. (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) has been recently detected as an economic pest of date palm orchards at Siwa Oasis, Egypt. The infestation symptoms appeared in the form of frond break and viscous oozes at the fracture points. The present study aimed to monitor the population fluctuation of P. frontalis adults, using light traps during 2016 season and to test the capability of the methanolic garlic extract to deter the beetles and consequently reduce frond breakage. The average monthly monitoring revealed minor Phonapate adult catches during January and November with maximum numbers during June–August. Coinciding with the surveillance of Phonapate adults, broken fronds were periodically monitored. The highest average breakage was noticed at the period extended from May to September. Accordingly, fortnight spraying program had been designed and commenced to cover such period. At the end of the proposed program, the corrected infestation percentages recorded about 43.11, 44.89, and 42.22% at 1000, 2000, and 3000 ppm of the methanolic garlic extract concentrations, respectively. Accordingly, garlic extract succeeded to diminish palm frond infestation through its capability to deter adult beetles. Engagement of cost competitive treatment as a P. frontalis niche (palm fronds) management tool in the proposed IPM program could support the sustainable pest management in the date palm orchards.
Highlights
Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L., is one of the most cultivated trees in the desert areas of many countries (Abass et al 2016)
As the global annual date production is estimated by about 7.4 million tons, Arab countries are considered as the lead producers by about 70% (FAOSTAT 2011)
Egypt comes on the head of the date producer list by about 11 million fruitful date palm trees with estimated production of about 1,115,000 tons annually (Erskine et al 2003)
Summary
Phoenix dactylifera L., is one of the most cultivated trees in the desert areas of many countries (Abass et al 2016). As the global annual date production is estimated by about 7.4 million tons, Arab countries are considered as the lead producers by about 70% (FAOSTAT 2011). Egypt comes on the head of the date producer list by about 11 million fruitful date palm trees with estimated production of about 1,115,000 tons annually (Erskine et al 2003). Egyptian Oases at the western desert are one of the main date palm cultivation areas. Insect pest invasion is one of the major detrimental factors that could threaten date palm production on both Egyptian and global levels. The chronic mode of infestation progress of most borer species beside the difficulty for early infestation detection, the rareness of detailed studies regarding this group of pests, and the unawareness of date palm farmers with the good agriculture practices to manage them may be another reasonable key for more exacerbated situation (Al-Deeb et al 2012; and Khalaf et al 2017)
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