Hypogeococcus pungens is an invasive mealybug that affects the native cactus Leptocereous quadricostatus on Puerto Rico. My research for biocontrols depends on the nurse of this pest in controlled conditions.
Studies on the Biology of Hypogeococcus pungens (sensu stricto)(Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Argentina to Aid the Identification of the Mealybug Pest of Cactaceae in Puerto Rico. Authors: Aguirre, M. B; Diaz-Soltero, H, Claps, L. E, Saracho Bottero, A, Triapitsyn, S, Hasson, E, Logarzo, G. A.Pages: 58 - 58
Abstract: Hypogeococcus pungens Granara de Willink, sensu stricto, is a serious pest of cacti in Puerto Rico threating many Caribbean islands. A classical biological control program for H. pungens was initiated for Puerto Rico in 2010 with a survey for natural enemies of H. pungens in its native range of Argentina. Biological differences were observed between populations of H. pungens sampled on Amaranthaceae and Cactaceae. Molecular studies suggested that H. pungens populations from different host plant families are likely a complex of species. Our objective was to study the biology of H. pungens sensu stricto on specimens collected in the same locality and host plant as the holotype [Tucumán Province, Argentina; Alternanthera pungens Kunth (Amaranthaceae)]. We were interested in the reproductive biology of females, longevity and survival of adults, the effect of temperature on the development, and nymph performance (survival and development) on five Cactaceae species. We found that H. pungens s.s. showed marked biological differences from the populations collected on Cactaceae and exported to Australia for the biological control of the cactus Harrisia spp. The main differences were the presence of deuterotoky parthenogenesis and the fact that H. pungens did not attack Cactaceae in the laboratory. Our results provide biological evidence that H. pungens is a species complex. We propose that the population introduced to Australia is neither Hypogeococcus festerianus Lizer y Trelles nor H. pungens, but an undescribed species with three circuli, and that the Hypogeococcus pest of cacti in Puerto Rico is not H. pungens. PubDate: 2016-06-20T03:06:24-07:00 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iew043 (2016) Issue No:Vol. 16,No. 1
McFadyen, R. E. 1979b. The cactus mealybug Hypogeococcus festerianus [Hemiptera:
Pseudococcidae] an agent for the biological control of Eriocereus martinii
[Cactaceae] in Australia. BioControl 24: 281–287.
New records of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from Spain. Beltrà, Aleixandre; Soto, Antonia // Phytoparasitica;Sep2011, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p385 . Five mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) species were identified as new records for Spain: Phenacoccus madeirensis (Green), Phenacoccus solani Ferris , Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana), Hypogeococcus pungens Granara de Willink and Ferrisia malvastra (McDaniel).