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The Sorghum Midge, Contarinia sorghicola (Coq.), in East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Q. A. Geering
Q. A. Geering
Affiliation:
Empire Cotton Growing Corporation, Cotton Research Station, Namulonge, Uganda.
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Extract

Contarinia sorghicola was discovered in Uganda in 1951, the only previous African record being from the Sudan. The infestation started in September in early varieties of sorghum grown in observation plots and reached a peak onlate varieties and ratoons in early March, thereafter declining as parasitism, chiefly by Tetrastichus sp. and Aprostocetus sp., increased to reach 100 per cent. in April.

The life-cycle was normally 19–25 days, but between December and April diapause larvae were found; these all produced adults in early August, following a period of high humidity.

Midges morphologically indistinguishable from C. sorghicola have been bred from Eleusine coracana and from wild Sorghum verticilliflorum in Uganda, and the midge may well be endemic wherever wild sorghums grow. Enquiries show that midge damage to sorghum occurs in Kenya, Tanganyika and Nyasaland, and it is likely that all the mainsorghum growing areas of Africa will prove to be infested.

The possible occurrence of resistance is discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , July 1953 , pp. 363 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1953

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References

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