Ana Paula Gonçalves da Silva Wengrat

Occurrence of lace bug Vatiga illudens and Vatiga manihotae (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in Mato Grosso do Sul, midwestern Brazil

Nymphs and adults of the lace bug (Hemiptera: Tingidae) have been found in cassava crops (Manihot esculenta) in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The insects were collected in the field and taken to the laboratory where they were identified based on some morphological traits of the species Vatiga manihotae (Drake) and V. illudens (Drake), which are first reported in the aforementioned state.

Ocorrência de Aleurothrixus aepim (Goeldi, 1886) em mandioca na região Oeste do Paraná

This paper work recorded the occurrence of Aleurothixus aepim Goeldi in cassava plants in the West of Parana, Brazil. The species was first found in February, 2009, in an experimental area at Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), in cassava leaves of the white starch variety. The samples were collected by gathering leaves infested with whitefly nymphs, which are characterized for presenting body coated by white waxy filaments. The material was preserved in 70% ethanol, in glass bottles, and sent for identification. New outbreaks have been recorded in the beginning of 2010 and 2011 in different rural properties located in the city of Marechal Candido Rondon. However, the precise cause of the occurence of A. aepim in this region is not completely clear. In the other production regions of the State, this species has not yet been detected.

External morphology of the immature stages of Vatiga manihotae (Hemiptera: Tingidae) with comments on ontogenesis

Abstract Vatiga (Hemiptera: Tingidae) species show preference for Cassava plants (Euphorbiaceae: Manihot), an important food source in the American tropics. Infestations of Cassava by Vatiga can cause serious harvest losses. Information on immature stages morphology can aid in early identifications of crop pests and provide data for use in phylogenetic analyses; thus, we describe and illustrate the external morphology of all life stages of Vatiga manihotae using optical and scanning electron microscopies. Eggs are laid inserted in the leaf blade, are whitish and oblong, with smooth chorion. In the larvae, the tegument is covered by hemispherical projections, which remain the same and become denser through ontogenesis. Dorsal surface of head and lateral margins of body with tubercles; from the second through the fifth instars the cephalic and lateral tubercles maintain the same structure, only adding setae along its surfaces. The cephalic tubercles of V. manihotae nymphs are more complex than those of the adults, as on the latter the cephalic tubercles lack setae. As suggested by literature, our discoveries fit the intermediate clades scenario of the ontogenetic pathway in which larvae have outgrowths and adults are simple, suggesting that brood protection is absent and larval protection by secretions may be present.