Putala rostrata Melichar

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-

Putala rostrata Melichar (Plate-1, Figure. g)

Taxonomicstatus: Homoptera : Hemiptera :Auchenorhynca: Fulgoroidea: Dictyopharidae

Distribution: Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu ( Song & Liang, 2011 Distant, 1906 and Gupta, 2013) in India. Few pests have also been recorded from Pakistan ( Mushtaq, 1984).

Present Locality: The pest has been reported from stations viz. Bhaderwah (District: Doda ), Batote (District: Ramban), Budhal (District: Rajouri) and Mandi (District: Poonch).

plants: It sucks the sap from leaves and soft parts of the apple plantations from all apple growing regions of Jammu Province.

Diagnostic features: Body ochraceous; head slightly longer, projected infront into a strongly convex anterior tip; head with lateral carine, central carina indistinct; pronotum tricarinate, lateral carinae incomplete, knob like; scutellum tricarinate, with lateral carinae complete; clypeus with lateral oblique striations; eyes, clypeus and parts of venter blackish brown;tegmina with a longitudinal dark brown patch at apex; anal segment in lateral view, broad with ventral margin strongly convex, possessing a longitudinal ventral cleft; pygofer flat, truncate, convex; aedeagus in dorsal view with short and broad phallobase, sclerotized lobes absent, membranous lobes two pairs, leaf like, unequal; dorsal apical process in the form of a hook, located in middle or basal to mid length; spinose process along dorsal margin slightly distal to dorsal apical process; tarsi 3-segmented.

Damage: The insects draw secretion from the soft parts of plants thereby giving them a pale appearance.