Parasitism of Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in different farming systems and altitudes of Mount Elgon, Uganda
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Applied Entomology
Abstract
Altitude and farming system play a vital role in modifying the niche for arthropods, by
directly influencing microclimatic conditions, the quality and quantity of vegetative
cover, which act variably on the behaviour of the pests, and their natural enemies.
The objective of the study was to determine their effect on the abundance and parasitism
of the Coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in the Mount Elgon region.
Altitude was categorized as: low (1,400–1,499 m.a.s.l); mid (1,500‐1,679 m.a.s.l); and
high (1,680–2,100 m.a.s.l), and farming system was categorized as: Coffee monocrop;
Coffee + annual; Coffee + banana; and Coffee + banana + shade trees. For each altitudinal
range, each farming system was represented three times. The study was in
two districts of the Mt. Elgon, covering a total of 72 Arabica Coffee study sites. The
work involved field pest infestation inventories, followed by laboratory rearing for
the abundance and parasitism studies. The results revealed highly significant interactions
between altitude and farming system in influencing the abundance of the pest
and its four parasitoids: Phymastichus coffea, Cephalonomia stephanoderis, Prorops
nasuta and Heterospilus coffeicola. C. stephanoderis was highest in the mid‐altitudes
within Coffee + banana+shade tree system; P. nasuta was highest at high altitude
within Coffee + banana system; P. coffea was most abundant at mid‐altitude within
Coffee + banana system, whereas H. coffeicola was highest at high altitude within the
Coffee + annual cropping system. H. hampei counts were highest at low altitudes,
especially in the Coffee + annual system. Some of these trends can be explained by
the condition of the microclimate in the Coffee fields. There was a negative relationship
between temperature and abundance of all the four parasitoids. Only C. stephanoderis
had a relationship (+) with semi‐natural vegetation species counts. And only
H. coffeicola had a relationship (+) with light intensity. These contrasted with H. hampei,
which was positively related to temperature and negatively to light intensity.
Description
Keywords
Microclimate, Microenvironment, Parasitoids, Vegetation
Citation
Ijala, A. R., Kyamanywa, S., Cherukut, S., Sebatta, C., & Karungi, J. (2019). Parasitism of Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in different farming systems and altitudes of Mount Elgon, Uganda. Journal of Applied Entomology, 143(10), 1122-1131. DOI: 10.1111/jen.12689