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Title: Chemical variability and leaf damage among lychee varieties, host of the Sri Lanka weevil, Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus Marchall

Author
item NIOGRET, JEROME - Mars, Inc
item Epsky, Nancy
item Kendra, Paul
item Teal, Peter

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2014
Publication Date: 11/16/2014
Citation: Niogret, J., Epsky, N.D., Kendra, P.E., Teal, P.E. 2014. Chemical variability and leaf damage among lychee varieties, host of the Sri Lanka weevil, Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus Marchall. 62nd Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Portland, Oregon, 16-19 Nov 2014.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Chemical Variability and leaf damages among lychee varieties, host of the Sri Lanka weevil Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus Marshall. Jerome Niogret, Nancy Epsky, Paul Kendra, Peter Teal The Sri Lanka weevil Myllocerus undercimpustulatus undatus Marshall is serious economic pest in India and Pakistan, affecting more than 20 crops including cotton. The weevil was first detected in South Florida in 2000, and since then, spread in a dozen of counties, imposing highly damages on the canopy of various ornamental and fruit trees. M. undecimpustulatus seems to be an opportunist pest which has been reported to attack more than 80 host species at its adult stage, and probably even more at its root feeding larval stages. Due to the large number of host plants, this weevil could demonstrate a great potential of becoming a wide spread invasive species by jumping from one crop to another or by shipping of ornamental nursery plants. Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus’s damages are particularly visible on lychee trees commonly found in South Florida. In this study, we are comparing the damages on the canopy among various lychee varieties with the leaf chemical contents that could explain the weevil’s preferences.