THESIS & RESEARCHES
Investigating the abundance and diversity of xylem sap-feeders Hemiptera in Palestinian fruit tree orchards
Year:
2022
Author:
Atawneh Wesam
Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) include over 40,000 species worldwide. Xylem feeders are mainly represented in the sub-order Cicadomorpha. Xylem-sap feeders are less known to affect overall plant health. However, these insects can transmit xylem-inhabiting pathogens and are considered as dangerous as the pathogens themselves. Xylella fastidiosa can infect many plants, including economically important crops (olive, grapevine, citrus, and stone fruits). Philaenus spumarius (L.), P. italosignus, and Neophilaenus campestris demonstrated an attitude to vector Xf ST53 in Italy. Given that the area infected by Xf is located very close to Palestine (Zecharia et al., 2022), the risk of its introduction remains high; therefore, knowing its candidate vectors is fundamental to developing containment strategies. This thesis aims to build a repertory of the Xylem-sap feeder guild abundance in available habitats and scrutiny for the CXfV through a multi-access identification key. The specimen collection was conducted in the West Bank region between April 2022 and June 2022, collecting 165 total specimens. Afterwards, the multi-access key permitted the finding of 41 specimens from Palestinian samples as candidate vectors of X. fastidiosa: Aphrophoridae (35 individuals) related to the genera Aphrophora, Neophilaenus and Philaenus, and Cercopidae (6 individuals) related to the genus Cercopis.
Supervisor:
A.J. Hamdan and F. Porcelli; advisors: F. Valentini and A. Hanani
Collaboration:
CIHEAM