International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology icipe, Nairobi, Kenya.
Pest Manag Sci. 2013 Aug;69(8):911-8. doi: 10.1002/ps.3451. Epub 2012 Dec 12.
Cashew, Anacardium occidentale, is an economically important cash crop for more than 300 000 rural households in Tanzania. Its production is, however, severely constrained by infestation by sap-sucking insects such as Helopeltis anacardii, H. schoutedeni and Pseudotheraptus wayi. The African weaver ant, Oecophylla longinoda, is an effective biocontrol agent of hemipteran pests in coconuts in Tanzania, but its efficacy in the control of Helopeltis spp. and P. wayi in Tanzanian cashew has not been investigated so far. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the efficacy of O. longinoda in the management of these insect pests in the cashew crop at different sites of the Coast region of Tanzania.
Colonisation levels of O. longinoda, expressed as weaver ant trails, varied from 57.1 to 60.6% and from 58.3 to 67.5% in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The mean number of leaf nests per tree varied from five to eight nests in 2010 and from five to nine nests in 2011. There was a negative correlation between numbers of nests and pest damage. Oecophylla longinoda-colonised cashew trees had the lowest shoot damage by Helopeltis spp. of 4.8 and 7.5% in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as opposed to uncolonised cashew trees with 36 and 30% in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Similarly, nut damage by P. wayi was lowest in O. longinoda-colonised trees, with only 2.4 and 6.2% in 2010 and 2011 as opposed to uncolonised trees with 26 and 21%.
Oecophylla longinoda is an effective biocontrol agent of the sap-sucking pests of cashew in the Coast region of Tanzania and should be considered as an important component of IPM.
腰果是一种经济价值很高的作物，坦桑尼亚有超过 30 万户农村家庭以此为业。然而，腰果的生产受到了诸如象甲科的梨象甲属（Helopeltis anacardii、H. schoutedeni 和 Pseudotheraptus wayi）等吸食汁液昆虫的严重侵害。非洲织叶蚁（Oecophylla longinoda）是坦桑尼亚椰子半翅目害虫的一种有效生物防治剂，但迄今为止，它在防治坦桑尼亚腰果中的梨象甲属和 P. wayi 方面的功效尚未得到研究。因此，本研究的目的是评估 O. longinoda 在坦桑尼亚沿海地区不同地点的腰果作物中管理这些虫害的效果。
O. longinoda 的定植水平，以织叶蚁踪迹表示，在 2010 年和 2011 年分别为 57.1%至 60.6%和 58.3%至 67.5%。每棵树的平均叶巢数在 2010 年为 5 至 8 个巢，在 2011 年为 5 至 9 个巢。巢的数量与虫害损害呈负相关。有 O. longinoda 定植的腰果树上的梨象甲属的枝条损害最低，分别为 2010 年和 2011 年的 4.8%和 7.5%，而未定植的腰果树上的枝条损害分别为 36%和 30%，在 2010 年和 2011 年。同样，P. wayi 造成的坚果损害在 O. longinoda 定植的树上最低，分别为 2010 年和 2011 年的 2.4%和 6.2%，而未定植的树上的坚果损害分别为 26%和 21%。
O. longinoda 是坦桑尼亚沿海地区腰果吸食汁液害虫的有效生物防治剂，应被视为 IPM 的一个重要组成部分。
