BIONOMICS OF THE GUAVA SOFT SCALE INSECT, PULVINARIA PSIDLI (MASKELL) (HEMIPTERA : COCCIDAE) IN EGYPT

Abstract

The guava soft scale insect , Puk90aria psidii (Maskell) (Hemiptera : Cocddae) is considered one of the most important pest infesting guava in Egypt. The aim of this work is to study the survey of host plants, geographical distribution and natural enemies of the guava soft scale insect, P. psidi in Egypt as well as the biological studies of the guava soft scale, on guava, grape and mango. The obtained results indicated that the guava soft scale insect infested 8 plant species belonging to 5 genera in 5 families, distributed in 9 governorates. Eleven species of parasitoids were collected and recorded Also seven species of predators were recorded attacked P.psithi. Temperatures greatly influenced the development of P.psidii. The lowering of the temperature increased the dimension of the soft scale insect and prolonged the developmental period. The results on guava, grape and mango showed that the life cycle of P.psklii at 30°C were 67.0±0.79, 67.0±7.88 and 79.8±1.95 days, respectively. These results indicated that P.psithi preferes guava, followed by grape and mango .