Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-cnmwb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T02:39:34.793Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies on Bathycoelia thalassina (H.-S.) (Hemiptera; Pentatomidae), the cause of premature ripening of cocoa pods in Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

N. Lodos
N. Lodos
Affiliation:
Cocoa Research Institute, Tafo, Ghana
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Bathycoelia thalassina (H.-S.), of which the developmental stages and life history are described, is responsible for premature ripening of cocoa pods in Ghana. Experiments conducted at Tafo to determine the nature of the damage to pods showed that the insect feeds directly on the beans, and that beans so attacked turn brown and subsequently die: only the empty shell of the bean remains.

The saliva of the insect kills any tissue of the pod that it penetrates and within four days the injured areas cease to grow and become yellow, then brown, and finally black.

The symptom most characteristic of damage is the change in colour. The pod may become completely yellow, or yellow in the basal or distal half only (usually the latter) or yellow in spots, depending on the size of the pod, the site of attack, and the duration of feeding at each site.

The insect usually attacks pods of the Amazon varieties, 10–17 cm. long. The incision made by the stylets is microscopic, and is covered by a jelly-like substance, and no evident lesions develop on the surface as in damage caused by cocoa mirids or coreids.

Damage caused by B. thalassina on young pods resembles cherelle wilt of physiological origin, and the two can be distinguished only by slicing the pods, whereupon the former can be recognised by the presence of injured beans.

According to the survey of damage caused by B. thalassina in Ghana, this species seems to be an economic pest on some Amazon and hybrid types of cocoa, whereas Amelonado cocoa usually suffers little.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , February 1967 , pp. 289 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alibert, H. (1951). Les insectes vivant sur les cacaoyers en Afrique Occidentale.—Mém. Inst. fr. Afr. noire no. 15, 174 pp.Google Scholar
Asomaning, E. J. A. & Kwakwa, R. S. (1966). Boron deficiency symptoms in cocoa fruits.—Proc. Cocoa Res. Conf. 1965.Google Scholar
Dallas, W. S. (1851). List of the … Hemipterous insects in the . . . British Museum, pt. I, 368 pp. Lond. Brit. Mus. (nat. Hist.).Google Scholar
Entwistle, P. F. [1965]. Minor pests.—Rep. W. Afr. Cocoa Res. Inst. (Nigeria) 1963–64 pp. 69–72.Google Scholar
Gerard, B. M. (1964). Insects associated with unshaded Theobroma cacao L. in Ghana.—Proc. Conf. Mirids & Other Pests Cocoa 1964 pp. 101–110.Google Scholar
Gerard, B. M. (1965 a). Minor pests. Bathycoclia thalassina (H.-Sch.) (Hemiptera-Pentatomidae).—Rep. Cocoa Res. Inst. Ghana 1963—65.Google Scholar
Gerard, B. M. (1965 b). Bathycoelia thalassina (Herrich-Schaeffer) (Hemiptera-Pentatomidae); a pest of Theobroma cacao L.—Nature, Lond. 207 no. 4999 p. 881.Google Scholar
Golding, F. D. (1940). Further notes on the food-plants of Nigerian insects. V.—Bull. ent. Res. 31 pp. 127–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayné, R. (1917). Insectes et autres animaux attaquant le cacaoyer au Congo Belge.—Étud. Biol. agric. no. 3, 80 pp.Google Scholar
Mayné, R. & Ghesquière, J. (1934). Hémiptères nuisibles aux végétaux du Congo Belge.—Annls Gembloux Janvier 1934, 41 pp.Google Scholar
Schouteden, H. (1909). Catalogues raisonnés de la faune entomologique du Congo Belge.—Annls Mus. r. Congo belge Sér. 4to (Zool.) 1 no. 3, 85 pp.Google Scholar
Villiers, A. (1952). Hémiptères de l'Afrique noire (punaises et cigales).—Init. Afr. 9 256 pp.Google Scholar