Omar Franco-Mora

Characterization of wild plum (Ximenia americana L. var. americana; Olacaceae) fruit growing at Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico

As a country, Mexico presents an especially wide range of fruit germplasm diversity. Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico, belongs to The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, which is an arid zone recognized to have a flora diversity. In that place, wild plum (Ximenia americana L. var. americana; Olacaceae), locally named “tihuixocote” grows mainly in backyards, the fruit of this species is appreciated by native people due to its taste, which is reported to be a mixture between sweet and sour. Fruit from 15 trees were characterized by measuring bio-physical and bio-chemical parameters, including weight, diameter (equatorial and polar), relationship equatorial/polar diameters, total sugar, soluble solid content and phenolic compounds. The results of this study indicate variability for these various wild plum fruit characteristics among trees growing in a reduced territorial space.

Association of Heilipus lauri Boheman and Conotrachelus perseae Barber (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on Avocado in Mexico

Mexico is the world’s primary producer and exporter of avocado (Persea americana Mill.). During 2010, avocado was grown on 123,000 ha (SIAP 2012) that produced 1.1 million tons of fruit valued at

New Distribution Records of the Small Avocado Seed Weevil, Conotrachelus perseae Barber (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in Mexico and Notes on Its Biology

900 million. Eighty percent of exports of this fruit is to the USA (Morales 2012), but quarantined pests might limit these exports. These pests include the weevils Heilipus lauri Boheman (Fig. 1),Copturus aguacataeKissinger,Conotrachelus perseae Barber (Fig. 2), and Conotrachelus aguacatae Barber, and the avocado seed moth, Stenoma catenifer Walsingham (Peterson and Orden 2008). To date, H. lauri and S. catenifer are not recorded in Michoacán, the main avocado-producing state in Mexico, and C. perseae is officially under control in Michoacán (Salazar-García et al. 2004). Associations of avocado weevils in the same ecological area have not been reported in Mexico. Therefore, we inspected new sites outside of Michoacán to determine any associative presence of H. lauri and C. perseae attacking avocado fruits in the same agroecosystem. Twenty-five fruits from six avocado trees of cultivar Hass and twelve fruits from four trees of Persea americana var. drymifolia or “avocado criollo” showing symptoms similar to those produced by avocado weevils were collected on 2 August 2009 in five backyard orchards in San Juan Acaxochitlan, Hidalgo, Mexico (20°11′37′′N, 98°08′25′′W, 1,670 m elevation). On 14 October 2009, three backyard orchards were sampled and 20 fruits from four Hass avocado trees and 18 fruits from two Fuerte variety avocado trees showing similar symptoms to the fruits collected in Hidalgo were collected in Meyuca, Coatepec Harinas, Estado de México (18°51′18′′N, 99°46′59′′W, 1,992 m elevation). Collected fruits were classified according to shape of perforation (Figs. 3, 4), placed in plastic containers (30 × 23 × 9 cm) and incubated at 26±1°C and 50% RH. Twelve days later, the fruits were dissected. The seed was removed to determine presence of any larvae which were placed into a new fruit (Hass) to continue development. Two kinds of curculionid larvae were found in the fruits and identified to genus level by using the keys in García-Arellano (1975). The weevil larvae were determined as Heilipus Germar sp. in Hass avocado fruits only and as Conotrachelus Dejean sp. in criollo and Fuerte avocado fruits. Pupation by Heilipus larvae occurred in the seed. Conotrachelus larvae emerged from the fruits, after which they were collected from the containers and placed in glass flasks (10.0 × 3.5 cm) with 9 cm of soil to facilitate pupation. The adult weevils were identified using the keys in Barber (1923) and Whitehead (1979) for Conotrachelus sp. and Barber (1919) and Castañeda et al. (2007) for Heilipus sp. Collected insects were identified as H. lauri (12 specimens: 2♀ from San Juan Acaxochitlan; 4♀ and 6♂ from Meyuca) and C. perseae (17 specimens: 2♂ from San Juan Acaxochitlan; 7♀ and 8♂ from Meyuca). These are new state records for C. perseae in Mexico. All specimens were deposited in the Insectario de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México in Toluca, Mexico. Heilipus lauri was described by Boheman (1845) from specimens collected in Mexico, and two specimens were reported by Champion (1902) from the Sallé collection from Calpulalpan, Tlaxcala, Mexico. It has been reported from Puebla, Morelos, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Guerrero, and Estado de México (Peña 1998; Castañeda et al. 2007) and also from Colombia (Caicedo et al. 2010). There were deep perforations (Fig. 3) in the fruits that we collected; each fruit may sustain one or two larvae. Pupae were formed inside the avocado

Snap bean production using sunflowers as living trellises in the central high valleys of Mexico

The genus Conotrachelus Dejean is represented by 93 species in Mexico (O’Brien and Wibmer 1982, 1984; Wibmer and O’Brien 1989). Of these, Conotrachelus dimidiatus Champion, Conotrachelus copalensis Salas and Romero, Conotrachelus eburneus Champion, Conotrachelus crateagi Walsh, Conotrachelus aguacatae Barber, and Conotrachelus perseae Barber (Fig. 1) are documented as important pests in tropical and subtropical fruits in Mexico, including guava (Psidium guajava L.; Myrtaceae), guajocote (Malpighia mexicana A. Juss.; Malpighiaceae), tejocote (Crataegus spp.; Rosaceae), and avocado (Persea americana Mill.; Lauraceae) (Coria-Ávalos 1999; Muñiz-Merino et al. 2012; Salas-Araiza and Romero-Nápoles 2012; Castañeda-Vildózola et al. 2014). The distribution of C. perseae includes Mexico and Central America (Whitehead 1979; O’Brien and Wibmer 1982; Castañeda-Vildózola et al. 2013). The most significant damage to avocado is caused by females when they perforate growing fruits for oviposition (Figs. 2–3). The larvae feed on the pulp and seeds (Fig. 4), causing fruits to drop prematurely. Larvae continue to develop in the fallen fruit and exit to pupate in the soil (Fig. 5) (Coria-Ávalos 1999; Castañeda-Vildózola et al. 2013). Although this is a species of economic

New host plant records for Oenomaus ortygnus (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Mexico.

E. J. Morales-Rosales, O. Franco-Mora, and A. Gonzalez-Huerta. 2011. Snap bean production using sunflowers as living trellises in the central high valleys of Mexico. Cien. Inv. Agr. 38(1): 53- 63. The aim of this study was to assess growth, net assimilation rate, biomass production and pod yield in two snap bean cultivars sown in monoculture and combined with two sunflower cultivars at three localities in the State of Mexico, Mexico. The six treatments were evaluated in a 2 × 3 factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications. When F values were significant, the least significant difference test at the 5% level of significance was used. The principal component analysis was also used to study the interrelationship among the six treatments and seven variables. The results observed in the biplot indicated that the largest original variation in the data was adequately represented in the first two principal components since both accumulated 68.5%. This variability was classified into four groups: ‘Criollo’ + ‘Sunbright’ and ‘Acerado’ + ‘Victoria’ contributed to the better phenotypic expression of leaf area index, pod yield and pod length; ‘Criollo’, with best average performance for net assimilation rate, number of pods and total biomass; ‘Criollo’ + ‘Victoria’ and ‘Acerado’ + ‘Sunbright’, the former with the largest pod diameter; and ‘Acerado’, with the poorest performance in leaf area index, pod yield and pod length. Treatments ‘Criollo’ and ‘Criollo’ + ‘Sunbright’ showed the highest pod yield (7.66 and 7.70 t·ha -1 , respectively), which is attributed to both, presented the highest values of leaf area index, total biomass and numbers of pods.

Head Capsule Width is Useful for Determining Larval Instar in Heilipus lauri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

This is the first record of Oenomaus ortygnus (Cramer) damaging fruits of ilama (Annona diversifolia) and extends the butterfly distribution for three states in Mexico.

New host plant records and distribution of Conotrachelus eburneus Champion (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Mexico.

Summary The purpose of this study was to determine the number of larval instars for Heilipus lauri Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). We reared 385 larvae under laboratory conditions and measured the width of the larval head capsules from digital images. Data were analyzed using the Hcap program and Dyars rule. Analysis of the frequency distribution showed the existence of 4 distinct peaks. The mean Dyars constant was 1.42, where the relationship between the natural logarithm of the head capsule widths and the number of larval instars resulted in a near-perfect geometric growth for each instar. The excellent fit of the data to a linear model suggests that there was nearly no overlap among the 4 instars in the head capsule measurements, making it possible to distinguish the 4 instars of H. lauri accurately.

Primer Registro de Hyperaspis trifurcata1 Schaeffer Alimentándose de Néctar Extrafloral de Haba (Vicia faba L.)

El género Malpighia (Malpighiales: Malpighiaceae) está integrado por 45 especies de árboles y arbustos nativos de América tropical y subtropical (Janick y Paull 2008). La acerola, Malpighia emarginata DC., es la especie más conocida y cultivada del género por su alto contenido de ácido ascórbico en sus frutos (Aparecida de Asis et al. 2008). Así mismo, otra especie de interés lo constituye el guajocote o guachocote del náhuatl “ajuaxocotl” o también conocido como nanche rojo Malphigia mexicana A. Juss., la cual produce frutos muy similares a la acerola. En las regiones rurales de México, los pobladores locales cultivan esta especie frutal a nivel traspatio para aprovechar sus frutos como fuente de alimento y con fines medicinales (Arias et al. 2002, Jarquín-López et al. 2011). El interés por estudiar a M. mexicana radica en el potencial de sus frutos como una posible fuente de ácido ascórbico o vitamina C. La principal limitante para cultivar a Malpighia spp. en varias regiones de América lo constituyen los insectos que destruyen los botones florales y los frutos (Ooi et al. 2002). Anthonomus macromalus Gyllenhall está catalogada como la plaga principal de M. emarginata en Florida, U.S.A. y las Antillas (Hunsberger y Peña 1997). Yee (1999) reportó la asociación entre Anthonomus spp. y Conotrachelus eburneus Champion en el cultivo de M. emarginata en Colima, México. Este complejo de curculiónidos causa pérdidas significativas, reducen la calidad estética, y propician el rechazo de los frutos por parte de los consumidores. Recientemente Anthonomus sisyphus Clark se reportó por Jarquín-López et al. (2011), dañando frutos de M. mexicana en Oaxaca, México, sin mencionar la presencia de C. eburneus.

An approach to the model for conservation of Central Mexico native grapevines

Resumen. El coccinélido Hyperaspis trifurcata Schaeffer, un depredador de la cochinilla silvestre del nopal Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), se reportó por primera vez alimentándose en los nectarios extraflorales del haba (Vicia faba L.) en Toluca, Estado de México. De acuerdo a nuestro conocimiento, H. trifurcata es el único miembro de la tribu Hyperaspidini que come otras fuentes de alimento como néctar extrafloral y se sugiere que la inclusión de V. faba como fuente de néctar extrafloral dentro del cultivo del nopal pudiera incrementar la supervivencia y capacidad depredadora de H. trifurcata sobre la plaga D. opuntiae.

Inhibición in vitro de Botrytis cinerea con extractos de hojas de vid silvestre (Vitis spp.)

Several and diverse native populations of wild grapevines have been reported growing in the States of Puebla, Mexico and Morelos, Central Mexico. After collection, successfully rooted vines were planted in Zumpahuacán, State of Mexico, and since 2013, their fruit were analyzed, mainly in relation to berry-weight and sweetness. Recently, the seed oil content was analyzed. Most berries harvested in 2013, 2014 and 2015 weighted less than 1 g and only berries of accession Puebla-41 (P-41) weighted nearly 2.5 g. On the other hand, most berries had lower than 18°B. Four accessions, three native of Puebla and one from Morelos had the higher fruit production (2.5, 1.5 and 1.4; and 0.68 kg per plant) and might be the genetic material proposed to be planted in Zumpahuacán, Mexico. Seed oil analysis confirmed the presence of linoleic acid as the main fatty acid in Central Mexico wild grape seed oil. Nowadays, the extraction of seed oil in Central Mexico native grapes seems to be the better alternative to interest locals and agro-industrial related companies in conserving and cropping this plant genetic resource.