Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems (Aug 2023)

FIRST RECORD OF Tosale oviplagalis (Walker) (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE) AS A FRUIT-BORING PEST OF Passiflora ligularis (Juss, 1805), IN THE CARPISH MOUNTAIN FOREST, PERU

  • Agustina Valverde Rodríguez,
  • Luisa Madolyn Alvarez Benaute,
  • Henry Briceño Yen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.56369/tsaes.4698
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 3

Abstract

Read online

Background. No previous records of Tosale oviplagalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) as an agricultural pest have been found. In Peru, the Chinchao area is part of the conservation area of the Carpish Montane Regional Forest, currently an expansion area for passion fruit (Passiflora ligularis Juss) cultivation and is home to endemic insect species that can access new food resources in the areas with crops. of cultivation. In 2019, the first reports of damage to granadilla fruits caused by these insects emerged. Objective. To register T. oviplagalis species for the first time as an agricultural pest in granadilla fruits and to showe its damage. Methodology. The larvae of the species were collected together with the immature damaged fruits of granadilla between the months of February and August of the year 2019, in the Chinchao-Huánuco-Peru area located between 2110 to 3690 masl; Subsequently, the breeding in the laboratory and the respective identification were carried out. Damage observations and descriptions were made in the field and in the laboratory. Results. In the larval state, the insect pierces the fruits, enters and feeds on the internal part of the epicarp, on its way it forms tunnels under the epidermis and usually takes refuge internally in the insertion of the peduncle, they complete their development and in the last stage occupying the same entrance orifice, they abandon the fruit, letting themselves fall to the ground to pupate. Implications. The study presents new information on the pest habits of the species T. oviplagalis. Conclusions. The species T. oviplagalis is recorded for the first time as a pest on the fruits of granadilla (P. ligularis). It was possible to show its damage, at the beginning with a small hole in the fruit through which the larval entered, completely deteriorated fruits and the complete development of the larva within the damaged fruit.

Keywords