Open AccessRelationship between Aphis spiraecola Patch, 1914 (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and citrus foliar minerals
Author(s) -
Salim Lebbal
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta agriculturae slovenica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.217
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1854-1941
pISSN - 1581-9175
DOI - 10.14720/aas.2020.115.2.1280
Subject(s) - infestation , aphid , biology , aphididae , rough lemon , botany , horticulture , hemiptera , rutaceae , rootstock , homoptera , pest analysis
Spring and autumn flushes are generally the most infested periods by citrus aphids. Nevertheless, the role of citrus foliar minerals on aphids is not clear. Thus, this paper aims to study the correlation between certain minerals and the infestation degree of citrus varieties by Aphis spiraecola . Aphid counting was carried out on 12 leaves for each of the six species retained (clementine, lemon, grapefruit and three varieties of mandarin), during autumn (October 2014) and spring (April 2015) flushes. In addition, mineral contents of the leaves in P, K, Na, Ca and Li were measured for the same periods. The results showed that the infestation levels of the studied varieties were higher in the spring flush than in the autumn one. Moreover, analyzes of young leaves showed an important intraspecific (mandarin varieties) and interspecific differences in the mineral composition between the examined citrus trees. The study of the relationship between infestation levels by A. spiraecola and mineral content of the six examined species showed no significant correlation, suggesting a marginal role of the five analyzed minerals in the relation citrus – A. spiraecola .