Aphanostigma piri

Aphanostigma piri (Cholodkovsky)

Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Hemimetabola, Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Aphidoidea, Phylloxeridae .

Common name: Pear phylloxera.

Geographical distribution: Mediterranean region, Crimea, East Asia.

Host plants:Pears.

Morphology: The body of apterous females is green to yellow, about 0.7-0.9 mm long. No alate forms known from the Middle East.

Life cycle: Groups of this pest live throughout the year in bark crevices, infesting buds and even the fruit calyx. It reproduces by viviparous parthenogenesis around the year, the populations peaking in spring and autumn. Each female can produce 70-150 progeny during its lifetime, which may last 3-4 weeks in summer, 10 weeks in winter. A generation is completed in about two weeks at 30ºC and the threshold of development is around 3.0ºC

Economic importance: The pear phylloxera is a major pest of pears. Its sucking from the bark results in intensive cracking that can cause the death of branches. Infested buds are destroyed and turn brown, rotted areas develop around the calyx of affected fruit, which may then drop or will be culled during packing. The cultivar “Spadona” is the most susceptible.

Management

Monitoring: Observations of the cracked bark of mature pear trees should commence in May, whereas fruit monitoring is by marking 20 pears/tree and observing their condition till picking.

Plant resistance: Some pear cultivars, such as Gentil and Coscia, are little infested by the pest.

Chemical control: Pear phylloxera can be controlled with systemic organophosphates, although the pest may be developing resistance to this group of pesticides.

References:

Cheng, M.F. and Yeh, C.C. 1999. Effect of temperature on the development and reproduction of Aphanostigma piri (Cholodkovsky). Chinese Journal of Entomology 12:73-80.

Herzog, Z. and Gotlieb, Y. (Editors) 2002. Recommendations for the Control of Pests and Diseases Affecting Deciduous Orchards. Israel Ministry of Agriculture, Extension Service, Division of Plant Protection (in Hebrew).

Oppenheim, D. 1994 (Ed.). A Guide to Integrated Pome Pest Management in Israel. Israel Ministry of Agriculture, Extension Service.

Swirski, E. and Amitai, S. 1999. Annotated list of aphids (Aphidoidea) in Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 33: 1-120.

Websites: https://www.google.co.il/search?q=cydia+pomonella+noce&biw=1024&bih=695&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ7AlqFQoTCOmv05izwcgCFYIuGgod5hgJjg#tbm=isch&q=aphanostigma+piri