ALTERNATE HOSTS OF THE FLAT MITE Brevipalpus spp. (ACARI: TENUIPALPIDAE) IN CITRUS AREAS OF THE PROVINCE OF CHIRIQUI. PANAMA. 2001-2002.

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify the main alternate host plants of Brevipalpus spp., vector of citrus ‘leprosis’ virus. Sampling was done in citrus production areas of Boquete, Dolega, and Boqueron districts, province of Chiriqui, Republic of Panama, from May 2001 to November 2002. Following the planting system, potential host plants within and around orange crops (Citrus sinensis) var. Valencia, Nativa and Washington Navel, with specimens of the mite Brevipalpus spp. on them, were sampled. Ten families, seventeen genera and eighteen species were identified as alternate hosts plants to Brevipalpus spp., all belonging to Class Magnoliopsida, group considered to be dominant in these areas. Families with larger number of genera belong to Asteraceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae, being the arbustive type of growing prevalent in all sampled areas. Ten new alternate host plants of the flat mite Brevipalpus spp. are reported here in all three sampled districts: In Boquete, Cosmos caudatus, Hamelia patens, Peltaea sessiliflora and Physalis pubescens; in Dolega, Lepidaploa canescens, Chamaesyce hirta, Henriettea succosa and Miconia spp.; in Boqueron, Desmodium incanum and Borreria laevis.