Flight behaviour of Deltocephalus menoni; (Hemiptera : Cicadellidae), the vector of sugarcane white leaf disease in Sri Lanka Chandrasekara M.L.C.M.1, Chanchala K.M.G.2,*, Perera A.R.N.N.1, Wanasinghe V.K.A.S.M.2, Jayathilaka H.M.A.S.1, Nikpay Amin3 1Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka 2Sugarcane Research Institute, Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka 3Department of Plant Protection, Sugarcane & By-products Development Company, Salman Farsi Agro-Industry, Ahwaz, Iran *Corresponding Author : chanchala@sugarrres.lk
Online published on 2 February, 2024. Abstract A study was conducted with the objectives of estimating the flying height, direction and distance of the Deltocephalus menoni, vector of Sugarcane White Leaf Disease (WLD). The research was conducted in sugarcane plantation in Uda Walawe and Siyabalanduwa area with the variety SL 96 128. To estimate the flying height and direction sticky traps with 6” was established in plantations in field with two to eleven months aged crop. Three months aged Sugarcane field of 20.25 was selected for the study flying distance. Traps were established in the selected field in a concentric manner in a 225m radius circle by starting from 10m distance from the radius. The flying distance of D. menoni in sugarcane field was estimated by means of (MRR) mark release recapture experiments using a total of laboratory reared day old 2400 vectors marked with Gel ink. Vectors were released at a central release after marking. Data on number of D. menoni captured from each distances were recorded and compared using Least Significant Difference (LSD) technique. D. menoni always fly at the height of leaf canopy of the sugarcane crop. With crop height incensement, flying height of D. menoni also increased. But it was not moved out beyond the canopy height. Proportion of number of recaptured insects to number of total captured vectors was recorded as 7.2%. Maximum flight distance of D. menoni was recorded as 75m and it was only 0.08% of the total release. The number of released D. menoni was declined with the increase of the distance from release point. Mean dispersal distance of D. menoni was 2.3 m/day and no influence of the wind direction and the velocity was recorded during the study period. Estimated potential flying distance D. menoni could be 82.86m. This finding could be effectively utilized in establishing commercial plantations and nurseries. Top Keywords Deltocephalus menoni, Flying distance, Flying direction, Sugarcane White Leaf Disease, Vector. Top |