Susceptibility of Genera and Cultivars of Turfgrass to Southern Chinch Bug Blissus Insularis (Hemiptera: Blissidae) (Report)
Florida Entomologist 2011, June, 94, 2
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- 79,00 Kč
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- 79,00 Kč
Publisher Description
The southern chinch bug (SCB) (Blissus insularis Barber) (Hemiptera: Blissidae) is the most damaging insect pest of St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum Walt. Kuntze), across the southern U.S.A., Bermuda, Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean Archipelago (Henry & Froeschner 1988; Sweet 2000). In the U.S.A. it is found from South Carolina to Florida, westward to Oklahoma and along the Gulf Coast to Texas and in California, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam (Reinert et al. 1995; Mortorell 1976; Vittum et al. 1999). This pest begins to damage St. Augustine lawns as early as Mar in parts of Southern Florida and Texas and first instars have been found during all 12 months in Southern Florida (Reinert, unpublished data). Damage begins as small patches of dead grass early in the season, with entire lawns killed as the summer progresses. During heavy infestations, large populations will progress from one lawn to another as they move from one city block to the next (Reinert & Kerr 1973). According to Painter (1928) B. leucopterous L. damages grasses by "removal of the synergic food-bearing solutions which flow to the roots by way of the phloem; the stopping up of the sieve tubes, and perhaps also the removal of water from the xylem, together with the stoppage of the tracheids." It is believed that this same process takes place when SCB feeds at the node and the crown area of Stenotaphrum, which mimics the effects of a toxin being injected into the plant. SCB infestations soon turn the grass yellow, brown, and it eventually dies within a few days. Both nymphs and adults feed in aggregates in localized areas early in the season, with these areas coalescing into large dead areas or entire lawns as the season progresses (Reinert et al. 1995).