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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) are considered the main European
vector of Xylella fastidiosa, a gram-negative bacterium responsible for serious diseases in
important agronomic crops. Nymphs of spittlebugs develop in vegetation cover where they
produce a spittle mass that provides protection from natural enemies and solar radiation.
This spittle mass is visible to the unaided eye which facilitates its monitoring, the
understanding of nymph’s dynamics and the implementation of control strategies against
X. fastidiosa. In this context, the goals of this work were monitoring the abundance of
spittlebug nymphs and identifying the host plants in the natural ground cover in the Trásos-Montes region, Portugal. For that, the presence, number of spittles per plant, number
of nymphs per spittle, and spittle position low, medium or high were recorded over a
sample unit of 100 × 25 cm in one olive grove (spring 2017 and 2018), in one almond
orchard and one vine (spring 2018) from Trás-os-Montes. Thirty sample units randomly
distributed over a transect covering 1 ha were selected per sampling date and sampling
site. The peak of spittlebug nymphs occurred in the middle of April and first weeks of May
in 2017 and 2018, respectively, in all sampling sites. Nine spittle masses and a mean of
1.93 ± 0.35 plants with spittle per m2 were recorded respectively in 2017 and 2018. In
2017, Crepis vesicaria L. and Bromus diandrus Roth were the most attacked species. In
2018, the presence of nymphs of the genus Neophilaenus was more abundant in the vine,
presenting a mean of 0.60 ± 0.19 nymphs per m2, while Philaenus nymphs showed a
higher abundance in the olive grove, presenting a mean of 0.17 ± 0.08 nymphs per m2.
Nymphs of the genus Neophilaenus were identified with high frequency in the species
Avena barbata subsp. lusitanica (Tab. Morais) Romero Zarco and Cynodon dactylon (L.)
Pers and the Philaenus nymphs were identified more frequently in the species Erodium
cicutarium (L.) L´Her. and in the genus Trifollium spp. It was verified that the number of
nymphs registered in the Trás-os-Montes region was much lower than the numbers
reported in other European regions, being necessary more years of study to understand
the dynamics of spittlebug nymphs.
Description
Keywords
Olea europaea L Philaenus spumarius Spittlebug nymphs
Citation
Rodrigues, I.; Villa, M.; Baptista. P; Pereira J. A. ( 2019). Abundance of spittlebug nymphs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) in Trás-os-Montes region, Portugal. In 2nd European conference on Xylella fastidiosa. In 2nd European conference on Xylella fastidiosa. Ajaccio, Córsega