The Biology, Ecology and Control of Mango Leaf Gall Midge Procontarinia matteiana (Kieffer & Cecconi) (Diptera:Cecidomyiidae) in North Kordofan, Sudan

Abstract

This study was conducted on mango (Mangifera indica L.) to provide information on some aspects of the ecology and biology of mango leaf gall midge (Procontarinia matteiana Kieffer and Cecconi) in the Sudan. A total of 97 sites in all mango growing States were surveyed. P. matteiana infestation in all the surveyed sites revealed that the insect was widely distributed in 100% infested trees in 11 States, while 3 States were found free of the infestation. The highest mean number of galls/leaf was recorded in West Darfur State while the least one was recorded in Gedarif State. Procontarinia matteiana adults seem to be very active and its presence coincide with the mango new flush. In El Molbus site, North Kordofan State (Lat: 13 01 08 N, long: 30 14 50 E alt 547 msl), two peaks of galls were recorded in late September and late November while in Abu Giebaha (Lat: 11 46 13 N, long: 31 23 19 E alt 679 msl) in South Kordofan State three peaks of galls in late July, August and November were recorded. The study of P. matteiana oviposition behavior in the laboratory showed that 79% of the adults emerged during 6 p.m to 6 a.m with 1: 1 sex ratio. The fecundity was 365.13±66.359 eggs and the mean of pre – oviposition, oviposition and post – oviposition periods were 5.8±1.12 hours, 2.7±0.407 days and 11.3±0.98 hours respectively. Life cycle duration of P.matteiana under field conditions showed high variation ranged from 1.5 to 8.4 months. In this study, twelve mango cultivars were field screened for P. matteiana natural infestation. All the examined mango cultivars showed different levels of susceptibility to P.matteiana under natural infestation in the field. The combined analysis for the four surveyed sites showed that Al Phonse and Tommy Atkins cultivars showed the highest mean of infested branches (%), infested leaves (%) and number of galls/leaf while the lowest means were recorded in Abu-Samaka Khadra and Abu-Samaka Baida cultivars. The potentiality of the insecticidal effect of the field application of aqueous extracts of Neem (Azadirachta indica (A. Juss)) leaves, Argel (Solenostemma argel (Del) Hayne) shoots and Usher (Calotropis procera (Ait)) leaves powder to control P. matteiana was studied. The aqueous extracts of Neem and Usher leaves and Argel shoot at 200, 300 and 400 g/10 litre of water were evaluated against P. matteiana in the field for four flush cycles during two years (2011 and 2012). The aqueous extract of Neem leaves and Hargal shoot powder at their highest concentration (400 g/ 10 Litre of water) gave the lowest mean number of gall/20 new leaves after 10 days of treatment. All tested botanicals increased mango yield, when compared with the untreated control. The results of the combined analysis of the two years showed no significant differences in yield for the two seasons. The aqueous extract of Neem leaves powder at 400g/10 litre resulted in the highest yield of mango fruits (56.15 kg/tree). According to these results, the aqueous neem leaves powder extract at 400g/10 litre is recommended to be used for the control P. matteiana.