SEASONAL ABUNDANCE OF THE CORN APHID, RHOPALOSIPHUM MAIDIS (FITCH) AND ITS ASSOCIATED PREDATORS IN GIZA AND QUALUBIA GOVERNORATES, EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Economic Entomology and Pesticides, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

2 Plant Protection Research institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

The corn aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) is one of the major pests of maize plants. The efficiency of predators depends not on their total consumption of aphids, but also on their seasonal abundance. Hence, studies were undertaken on the importance of associated preda­tors as a controlling agent against aphids. Present survey resulted in five species of predators, i.e. Coccinella undecimpunctata L., Cydonia vicina nilotica M., Cydonia vicina subsignata P., Paederus alfierii Koch, and Chry­soperfa camea Steph., associated with the corn leaf aphid in both Giza and Qualubia Governorates. It is clear that P.alfierii, C.undecimpunctata, and Ch.carnea were dominant predators followed by Cy.vicia nilotica and Cy,vicina subsignata which moderately existed on maize plants. The highest numbers of P.alfierii, C.undecimpunctata, and Ch. carnea oc­curred during July and August, while the two species of Cydonia were active during August and September and survived in scarce number dur­ing June and July. The building up of the aphid population led to the in­crease of the population size of the predators during the whole maize growing season. A high and positive correlation occurred between the fluctuations in the populations of aphids and those of P.alfierii and C.undecimpunctata. Also, there was a harmonious correlation between numbers of Ch.carnea and those of Rh.maidis on maize plants

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