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| Adult leucaena psyllid |
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| Young leucaena shoot tip with eggs of the leucaena psyllid |
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| Complete defoliation of leucaena plants by leucaena psyllid nymphs and
adults |
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| Map showing spread of the leucaena psyllid from North America to Africa from
1984 to 1992 |
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Order Homoptera: Family Psyllidae
The Leucaena psyllid, Heteropsylla cubana,
is a member of a group of insects known as "jumping plant lice," and is native to Central
and South America where it occurs on leucaenas in their native range.
The adult
psyllid is difficult to see with the naked eye and is about 2 mm long and yellow in
colour.
Eggs are laid between new leaves on young shoot tips.
It takes 10-20 days to go
from egg to adult stage. The insect is common on the young growth leucaena trees where
the eggs, wingless nymphs and winged adults often occur together.
In Africa, the pest
has been recorded in leucaena growing areas on Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Reunion, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Leucaena is a multi-purpose plant species with a variety of uses.
The
solution to this pest problem will not be immediate. However, farmers should avoid
cutting their leucaena trees. Insects that feed on the
psyllid are being evaluated and resistant varieties of leucaena are being tested.
Because of the difficulty of detecting this insect with the naked eye, its
presence may not be noticed until damage is evident. Adults and
nymphs inflict injury to leucaena plants by de-sapping young shoots, leaves and flowering
structures. This can cause wilting of foliage, especially the new shoots and, complete
defoliation of susceptible leucaena
varieties. In severe cases, plants die.
Originally produced:
as TCP/RAF/4451 (A) by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome,
Italy. Printed by Forest Health Management Centre, P.O. Box 30241 Nairobi.
Photo Credits:
W. Nagamine, FAO Archives and W. M. Ciesla
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