Eriosoma lanigerum Hausmann

Gupta, Ruchie & Pathania, P. C., 2017, Report on Hemipteran pest diversity on apple plantations (Malus domestica Borkh.) in Jammu and Kashmir State of India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (4), pp. 356-356 : 356-

Eriosoma lanigerum Hausmann (Plate-1, Figure. a)

Taxonomicstatus: Hemiptera :Sternorrhyncha:Aphidoidea: Aphididae

Distribution: They are commonly known as woolly apple aphid and one of the most destructive ones of Malus plantations throughout the world. This pest is a native of America ( Baker, 1915). It has been reported from. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Darjeeling, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu (Conoor) and Uttar Pradesh (Gupta et al., 2015).

Present Locality: Eriosoma lanigerum was recorded as a main pest throughout the studied districts viz. Doda, Ramban, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Kishtwar of Jammu Province

Host plants: Eriosoma lanigerum Hausmann completes its life cycle on two host plants in certain areas of the world like Europe, Canada, Japan and China. In these places this aphid reproduces by parthenogenesis on Ulmus campestris (Elm tree) where the elm tree acts as its primary host and on Malus sp. , Prunus and some other trees that act as its secondary hosts (Gautam & Verma, 1983; Adlakha & Hameed, 1972 and Bhardwaj & Bhardwaj, 2005). Due to absence of elm trees in India, these aphids have adapted to pass their entire life only on its secondary host plant i.e. Malus sp. ( Gupta, 2007). The common host plants for wolly apple aphid includes Apple, Almond, Cotoneaster, Crab apple, Crataegus, Hawthorn, Mountain ash, Pear, Peach, Pyracantha and Quince (Gupta et al., 2015; Gupta et al., 2015a, b).

Diagnostic features: Woolly apple aphids are polymorphic i.e., there are three different morphs of aphids. They are virginoparae, sexuparae and sexuals. Adult aphids of virginoparae morph are brownish or purple, 1.5 to

3.0 mm long, found in patches of variable dimensions covered by woolly secretions of fine filaments through their skin. This cottony cover makes them identifiable from shorter distances. Talus 2-segmented bearing two claws, feelers filiform bearing 6-segments, well developed mouthparts, 2 pairs of membranous wings, Median vein in front wing branched, thoracic tubercles 4 to 6, well defined. Sexuparae morphs are wingless, arostrate and undergo 4 moults before becoming mature sexually; pair of claspers and aedegus present in male. Sexual forms wingless, mouthparts attenuated, wax glands exuberant, antennae 5-segmented. They do not feed during their whole life span and survive only on reserve fats.

Damage: It has been recorded as one of the most dangerous pest of Malus sp. Pest remains active throughout the year and infestation mainly starts from the roots and straggle towards the trunk and other parts of the plant. Pest causes severe damage to plant by imbibing cell sap from soft parts of the plant that results in the creation of nodule like structures or galls on the infested parts of the plants. Establishment of galls upset the physiological processes of the plant (Rahman & Khan, 1941; Lal & Singh, 1947; Thakur, 1970; Nair, 1970; Adlakha & Hameed, 1972; Butani, 1979; Sachan & Gangwar, 1980; Gautam & Verma, 1983; Atwal & Dhaliwal, 1999 and Bhardwaj & Bhardwaj, 2005). As a result of sap sucking, the affected tree loose vigour which ultimately decelerate tree growth which in turn become fallible to the attack of secondary pests like wood borers etc. The infestation by Eriosoma lanigerum sometimes becomes nuisance to the pickers at the time of harvesting ( Gupta et al, 2015a,b).