Insect Pests Occurring on Dacryodes edulis (Burseraceae) in Rural Areas in Gabon

Abstract

The inventory of pests occurring on Dacryodes edulis (Burseraceae) was carried out in rural areas in Gabon during 2009 and 2010. Yellow traps and visual observations were used to record weekly pests during the tree flowering stage, in five villages. Catches from yellow traps rose to 7,296 and 1,722 insect pests in 2009 and 2010, respectively, whereas records from visual observations corresponded to 1,812 and 171 insect pests in 2009 and 2010, respectively. During both years, abundance from traps and visual monitoring was significantly different between sampling sites (p < 0.05). The difference in pests' diversity between sampling sites was not significant (p > 0.05) according to traps, but significant (p ≤ 0.04) according to visual observations in 2010. Mecocorynus loripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cucurlionidae) attacked the stem of D. edulis, while Oligotrophus sp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), Pseudophacopteron serrifer Malenovsky and Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Phacopteronidae), and Selenothrips rubrocinctus Giard (Thysanopera: Thripidae) attacked leaves. Pseudonoorda edulis Maes and Poligui (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and Lobesia aeolopa Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) infested fruits and inflorescences, respectively. These insects are specifically linked to plant patterns, and their identification provided the first basic information for developing suitable strategies to control pests of D. edulis in Gabon, as well as in neighboring central African countries.

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for rapid identification of Ceratitis capitata and related species

“…CFARQ primers with C. rosa, C. anonae or C. quilicii samples resulted in Tp values between 29 and 38 minutes with a Ta of 80.7°C (SD, 0.2) and LAMP amplification with CFARQ primers did not occur with other tephritid samples tested ( Figure 2 , Table S1). LAMP amplification was also not observed with Zaprionus ornatus , an unrelated fruitfly that feeds on plant hosts on which Ceratitis capitata also occurs ( Poligui et al., 2014 ) (Johan Witters, pers. communicaton) (Figure S4).…”

Presence of Pseudacysta perseae (Heidemann) (Hemiptera: Tingidae) and it relate predatory mirid Stethoconus praefectus on Persea americana at Franceville, Gabon

“…Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) and Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H. J. Lam (Burseraceae), from Congo to Franceville [17,18] . In this context, infested leaves of avocado could have been transported from a nearest neigboring country to Gabon.…”

“…It presence is a new event for avocado orchards, and a serious threat for fruit trees culture. This insect is newly observed in Franceville and Gabon, because former studies did not allow to observe it [17,18] . There is also no literature awarning about it occurrence in Africa.…”

Physicochemical properties and composition of safou (Dacryodes edulis) non-conventional oil from Côte d’Ivoire

“…The scientific research on D. edulis focused on the characterization of the nutritive value of its pulp and its oil 6 , the oil extraction processes 7 and D. edulis tree of propagation techniques 8 . These revealed excellent nutritional qualities of the fruit pulp and interesting food processing properties of the oils extracted from the pulp and kernel safou 9 . The pulp, the only edible part of the fruit is particularly rich in lipids, indicated that safou could be an important source of oil 10 .…”