Field evaluation of the relative susceptibility of six pear varieties to the pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola (Foerster, 1848))

Mohammad Saeed Emami

doi:10.14720/aas.2019.114.1.5

Abstract

The pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Foerster, 1848) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is one of the most detrimental pests in commercial pear orchards. Varieties with low infestation level to pear psylla would offer to integrated psyllid management. The natural infestation level of six pear varieties to pear psylla was studied under field conditions during three successive years. The pear varieties consisted of ‘Comice’, ‘Buerre Giffard’, ‘Bonne Louise’, ‘Felestini’, ‘Shahmiveh’, and ‘Sebri’. Psyllid population was sampled weekly by limb jarring method and selecting 10 leaves randomly per tree. The results indicated that the size of the psyllid population on the tested pear varieties was significantly different (F 5, 30 = 816.18, p < 0.0001). ‘Shahmiveh’ and ‘Sebri’ showed high and low susceptible, respectively, to pear psylla infestation. The natural infestation level of C. pyricola was 37.01 % and 35.8 % lower on ‘Bonne Louise’ and ‘Sebri’, respectively, than on ‘Shahmiveh’. These varieties may be used for crossing in breeding programs to develop plant resistance to C. pyricola and may be exploited in integrated psyllid management.

Highlights

The pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Förster, 1848) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is a main insect pest of the planted pear (Pyrus communis L.) in the production areas of Iran (Emami, 2016), North America and Europe (Bell, 2013) with the greatest economic importance (Emami et al, 2014b)
The present study was done to evaluate the relative susceptibility of six pear varieties to the pear psylla under natural infestation conditions with the purpose to employ in the psyllid management
A significant difference was found among tested varieties in relation to pear psyllid population (F5, 10 = 217.17, p < 0.0001)

Summary

Introduction

The pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Förster, 1848) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is a main insect pest of the planted pear (Pyrus communis L.) in the production areas of Iran (Emami, 2016), North America and Europe (Bell, 2013) with the greatest economic importance (Emami et al, 2014b). Psyllid invasion is the greatest pest management problem of pear orchards in Iran (Emami et al, 2014a). Investigate on varieties with durable and natural resistance to pear psyllid is an efficient and sustainable strategy for inclusion in pear psylla integrated pest management program. Quarta and Puggioni (1985) surveyed on 93 cultivars and 43 selections grown in the variety testing trial. They showed that the most common varieties are all very susceptible to pear psylla and only 12 % showed a low susceptibility. The present study was done to evaluate the relative susceptibility of six pear varieties to the pear psylla under natural infestation conditions with the purpose to employ in the psyllid management

Methods

Results

Conclusion