Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:54:23.095Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Crematogaster sp. (Hym., Formicidae) attacking Cola nitida (Sterculiaceae) in Western Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

W. E. Eguagie
W. E. Eguagie
Affiliation:
Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, P.M.B. 5244, Ibadan, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The flowers, leaves, young branches and pods of Cola nitida were attacked by Crematogaster buchneri Forel at Gambari Experimental Station, Nigeria. The ants scrape off the epidermis, so that affected leaves fall and pods become shrivelled. In 1970 damage to leaves and branches occurred in 6% and 1% respectively of the Cola trees in a 3·98-ha plot; in 1971 the figures were 7% and 2%. About 3% of the total pods were damaged in 1970, none in 1971. C. buchneri attacked 12 species of wild plants in the Cola plot, but when caged with plants in the laboratory, the ants attacked only Phyllanthus floribundus and C. caricifolia. The ants tend Coccus hesperidum L. and make small greyish-black nests of earth mixed with fine frass in crevices between main veins of leaves, at leaf nodes or terminal buds. Attack on living plant tissues shows a degree of convergence between C. buchneri and Atta spp. and Acromyrmex spp.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , February 1973 , pp. 527 - 531
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cherrett, J. M. (1969). Foraging behaviour in the leaf-cutting ant, Atta ceplialotes L.—Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (C) 34, 9.Google Scholar
Eguagie, W. E. (in press). An ecological evaluation of effects of spraying gamma-BHC, Sevin and Sumithion for mirid control on cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) in Western Nigeria.—Bull. ent. Soc. Nigeria 3.Google Scholar
Eijnatten, C. L. M. van (1970). Diseases and pests of kola.—Commun. Dep. agric. Res. R. trop. Inst. Amsterdam no. 59, 91–93.Google Scholar
Gerard, B. M. (1967). A review of 50 years applied entomology in Nigeria: tree crops. In Fifty years applied entomology in Nigeria, 25–38. Being the proceedings of a conference of the Entomological Society of Nigeria, held at the University of Ife, Ibadan,from 5th to 7th April, 1967.Ibadan,Entomological Society of Nigeria.Google Scholar
Marchart, H. (1968). Radiotracer study of the predators on Distantiella theobroma (Distant) (Hemiptera: Miridae). In Isotopes and radiation in entomology, 3–15. Proceedings of a symposium jointly organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and held in Vienna, 4–8 December 1967. —428 pp. Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency. (STI/PUB/166).Google Scholar
Strickland, A. H. (1947). Coccids attacking cacao (Theobroma cacao, L.) in West Africa, with descriptions of five new species.—Bull. ent. Res. 38, 497–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Urquhart, D. H. (1955). Pests of cocoa. In Cocoa, 120–132. London, Longmans.Google Scholar
Wyniger, R. (1962). Ants and their role as plant pests. In Wyniger, R.Pests of crops in warm climates and their control. Basel, Verlag für Recht und Gesellschaft, 465—474. (Acta trop. suppl. 7).Google ScholarPubMed