A new invasive jack beardsley mealybug, pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi (hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on papaya in India

Abstract

Mealybugs are major factors limiting the productivity of papaya in India. In June 2012 during a survey for the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus, and its parasitoid Acerophagus papayae, in Satyamangalam, Tamilnadu, India, a short tailed mealybug was found together with P. marginatus colonizing papaya in 2 plantations. This mealybug was identified as the Jack Beardsley mealybug, P. jackbeardsleyi Gimpel and Miller (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), by an integrated taxonomic approach. This work appears to be the first report of P. jackbeardsleyi in India and of papaya as a host of this pest.