The Cocoa Black Ant-Mealybugrelationship: Artificial Establishment of Cataenococcus Hispidus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) on Cocoa
The cocoa black ant Dolichoderus thoracicus (Smith), plays an important role in the control of the cocoa mirid Helopeltis theobromae (Miller) in Malaysia. The ant has a mutualistic relationship with a variety of homopterans, the commonest one being the mealybug Cataenococcus hispidus (Morrison)....
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1988
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10248/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10248/1/FP_1988_5.pdf |
| Summary: | The cocoa black ant Dolichoderus thoracicus (Smith), plays an
important role in the control of the cocoa mirid Helopeltis
theobromae (Miller) in Malaysia. The ant has a mutualistic
relationship with a variety of homopterans, the commonest one
being the mealybug Cataenococcus hispidus (Morrison). Attempts to
manipulate D. thoracicus are dependent on the ability to
manipulate C. hispidus. The study carried out was aimed at
obtaining information on C. hispidus to enable the mealybug to be
established more successfully. A method of es timating the number of individuals in a first
in star colony was devised. |
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