Status of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) infesting Ficus religiosa Linn. in India and their coexistence

ABSTRACT

Ficus religiosa Linn. Commonly known as Peepal tree is found wild or cultivated nearly throughout India especially in vicinity of temples and is held sacred by Hindus and Buddhists. It is also planted as an avenue or road side tree and its various parts are used in traditional system of medicine. On this tree so far 12 species of whiteflies viz., Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, Aleuroclava complex Singh, A. grewiae Sundararaj and David,  A. louiseae Sundararaj and David,  Aleuroplatus alcocki (Peal), A. quaintancei (Peal), A. spina (Singh), Bemisia religiosa (Peal), Dialeurolonga maculata (Singh), Dialeuropora decempuncta (Quaintance & Baker), Pealius spinosus Jesudasan & David and Singhiella simplex (Singh) are known to breed in India. In our survey on whiteflies A. dispersus, A. complex, A.  alcocki, D. decempuncta, and S.  simplex were commonly found breed on F. religiosa in south India. Among them the infestation of A. complex, A.  alcocki and S. simplex was severe resulting in drying and premature falling of leaves in younger plants. Further in the infestation of whiteflies coexistence of A. complex with S. simplex was commonly observed. In this context of infestation of whiteflies reaching the status of pest, the probable role of global warming is discussed.

 Key words: Indian Aleyrodidae, Ficus religiosa, Aleurodicus dispersus

REFERENCES

1. David, B.V. and Subramaniam, T.R. 1976. Studies on some Indian Aleyrodidae. Rec. Zool. Survey India, 70: 133 - 233.
2. David, B.V. and Jesudasan, R.W.A. 1989a. Dialeurolonga maculata (Singh) comb. nov. and Dialeurolonga takahashi nom. nov. for Dialeurolonga maculata Takahashi (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) from Madagascar. Entomon, 14(3,4): 371.
3. David, B.V. 1994. A new species of Viennotaleyrodes Cohic (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) from India. Hexapoda, 6: 33 - 38.
4. David, B.V. and Ragupathy, E. 2004. Whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) of mulberry, Morus alba L., in India. Pestology, 28(10): 24 - 32.
5. David, B.V. and Raja, M. 2008. Severe incidence of Aleyrodid, Aleuroplatus alcocki (Peal) on Syzygium cumini. Insect Environment, 14(2): 69 - 70.
6. Dubey, A. K. 2003. Biosystematics of the aleyrodids  (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera: Insects) of south western ghats, India. Ph.D.Thesis submitted to FRI University, Dehra Dun, pp. 282.
7. Dubey, A.K. and  Sundararaj, R. 2004a. Host range of the spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) in western ghats of south India. Indian J. Forestry, 27(1): 63 - 65.
8. Dubey, A.K. and Sundararaj, R. 2005b. A review of the genus Aleuroclava Singh (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) with descriptions of eight new species from India. Oriental Insects, 39: 241 - 272.
9. Dubey, A.K. and Sundararaj, R. 2005d. A taxonomic study of the genus Pealius Quaintance & Baker (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 102 (2): 158 - 161.
10. Dubey, A. K. and Ko, C. C. 2008. Whitefly (Aleyrodidae) host plants list from India. Oriental Insects, 42: 49 - 102.
11. Ghani, A. 1998. Medicinal plants of Bangladesh with chemical constituents and uses, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 236pp.
12. Jesudasan, R.W.A. and David, B.V. 1991. Taxonomic studies on Indian Aleyrodidae (Insecta: Homoptera). Oriental Insects, 25: 231 - 434.
13. Makhija, I.K., Sharma, I.P. and Khamar, D. 2010. Phytochemistry and Pharmacological properties of Ficus religiosa: an overview. Annals of Biological Research, 1(4) : 171-180.
14. Martin, J.H. and Mound, L.A.  2007. An annotated check list of the world’s whiteflies (Insecta: Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Zootaxa, 1492: 1 - 84.
15. Lingaiah, Estari Mamidala and P. Nagaraja Rao (2015). An ethnobotanical survey of
    medicinal plants extracts used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in the Utnoor Mandal
    of Adilabad dist, Telangana, India. Biolife. 3(4); 937-945. DOI: 10.17812/blj.2015.3429
16. Mathur, R.N. and Singh, B. 1959. A list of insect pests of forest plants in India and the adjacent countries. Indian Forest Bulletin. No. 171(4): 165.
17. MANNION, C. GLENN, H. UF/IFAS, A. Hunsberger, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade County Extension. http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/IAWG/FIG/The%20Fig%20Whitefly%20(2007)%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf  
18. Peal, H.W. 1903. Contribution towards a monograph of the oriental Aleurodidae. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 72: 61 - 98.
19. PRASAD, P.V., SUBHAKTHA, P.K., NARAYANA, A. and RAO, M.M. 2006. Evaluation  of   hepato protective activity of Ficus religiosa bark extract. Bull. Indian Inst. Hist. Med., Hyderabad, 36, 1-20.
20. Quaintance, A.L. and Baker, A.C. 1914. Classification of the Aleyrodidae Part II. Tech. Ser. Bur. Entomol. U. S., 27: 95 - 109.
21. Quaintance, A.L. and Baker, A.C. 1917. A contribution to our knowledge of the whiteflies of the subfamily Aleyrodinae (Aleyrodidae). Proc. U. S. Natn. Mus., 51: 335 - 445.
22. Ramani, S. 2000. Fortuitous introduction of an aphelind parasitoid of the spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) into the Lakshadeep Islands with notes on host plants and other natural enemies. J. Biol. Control, 14 (1): 55 - 60.
23. Rao, A.S. 1958. Notes on Indian Aleurodidae (Whiteflies) with special reference to Hyderabad.  Proc. 10th Int. Cong. Entomol., 1: 331 - 326.
24. Russell, L.M. 1965. A new species of Aleurodicus Douglas and two close relatives (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Fla. Entomol., 48: 47 - 55.
25. Singh, D. and Goel, R.K.  2009. Anticonvulsant effect of Ficus religiosa: role of serotonergic pathways, J. Ethanopharmacol, 123: 330-334.
26. Singh, H.S., S.Mandal, R.s. mishra, s.k. srivastava, b.k.das, a.k. sahoo, m.a.anwar, t.saha, durga prasad, arvind kumar, riyaz ahemad, s.b. sah, anil kumar, r.g. singh, u.s. nayak and a.das, 2014. emerging pests of vegetables, ginger and tuber crops in eastern India, J. Appl. Zool. Res. 25(2): 171-176.
27. Singh, K. 1931.  A contribution towards our knowledge of the Aleyrodidae (whiteflies) of India.  Mem. Dept. Agric. India. Entomol. Ser., 12: 1 - 98.
28. Singh, K.  1945. Notes on Aleurodidae from India III. Indian J.Ent. 6: 75 - 78.
29. Srinivasa, M.V. 2000. Host plants of the spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell (Hemiptera: Aleurodidae). Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems, 6(2): 79 - 105.
30. Sundararaj, R. 1989. Taxonomic studies on Indian aleyrodids of the tribe Dialeurodini                  (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera), Ph.D. thesis, University of Madras, Chennai : 171 pp.
31. Sundararaj, R. and David, B.V. 1993a. New species of Aleuroclava Singh from India (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Oriental Insects, 27: 233 - 270.
32. Sundararaj, R. and Dubey, A.K.  2007. Identification of Indian species of whitefly genus Dialeuropora Quaintance & Baker (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and their host plants. Indian Journal of Forestry, 30(2): 185 - 188.
33. Sundararaj, R. and Pushpa, R.  2011a. Aleyrodids (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera) of India with description of some new species and new host records. pp. 407-534. In: Gupta, Rajiv K. (Ed.), Advancements in Invertebrate Taxonomy and Biodiversity. AgroBios (International), viii+534 pp.
34. Takahashi, R. 1934. Aleyrodidae of Formosa, Part III.  Rep. Dep. Agric. Govt. Res. Inst. Formosa, 63: 39 - 71.
35. Takahashi, R.1952b. Some Malayan species of Aleyrodidae (Homoptera). Mushi, 24: 21 - 27.