Banner
Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive
Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive

volume 31 issue 2 (june 2010) : 113 - 119

COTTON MEALY BUG, PHENACOCCUS SOLENOPSIS TINSLEY – A REVIEW

M
M.D. Joshi
P
P.G. Butani
V
V.N. Patel1
P
P. Jeyakumar2
1Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh- 362 001 India

  • Submitted|

  • First Online |

  • doi

Cite article:- Joshi M.D., Butani P.G., Patel1 V.N., Jeyakumar2 P. (2025). COTTON MEALY BUG, PHENACOCCUS SOLENOPSIS TINSLEY – A REVIEW. Agricultural Reviews. 31(2): 113 - 119. doi: .

ABSTRACT

Mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley is a serious pest of cotton limiting the production
and quality of fibre and lint. It is a polyphagous pest and multiply on different hosts like field
crops, horticultural, fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants. They suck a large amount of sap
from leaves and stems depriving plants of essential nutrients showing the symptoms like retarded
growth, late opening of bolls and total drying of the plant. The yield losses due to the pest are
estimated upto 50 per cent. Mealy bugs are cottony in appearance, small, oval, soft-bodied
sucking insects covered with white mealy wax, which makes them difficult to eradicate. An
individual mealy bug survived for 25-38 days. Effective control of the pest can be achieved
through an integrated pest management approach. Field sanitation, uprooting of infested plants,
dusting of methyl parathion 2 per cent or spraying of profenophos 50 EC or chlorpyriphos 25 EC
or quinalphos 25 EC help to reduce the pest population. Aenasius bambawalei Hayat, Anagyrus
kamali Mani, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mulsant), Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), Verticillium
lecanii (Zimmermann) and Beauveria bassiana (Vuillemin) are the effective biological control
agents in managing the infestation of the pest

REFERENCES

  1. Abbas, G., Arif, M. J. and Saeed, S. (2005). Systematic status of new species of genus Phenacoccus Cockerell
  2. (Pseudococcidae), a serious pest of cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. in Pakistan. Pakistan Entomology, 27: 83-84.
  3. Akintola, A. J. and Ande, A. T. (2008). First record of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on
  4. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Nigeria. Agricultural Journal, 3: 1-3.
  5. Anonymous (1978). A mealy bug (Phenacoccus solenopsis) - Florida. Cooperative Plant Pest Report, 3(44-47): 622.
  6. Anonymous (2009, a). AICCIP, ICAR, Annual Report, 2008-09.
  7. Anonymous (2009, b). Survey of insect pests in major crops of North Suarashtra Agro climatic Zone. Annual Research
  8. Report (2008-09) of Agricultural Entomology, MDFRS, JAU, Targhadia, pp 7.
  9. Anoymous (2008, a). Annual Report (2007-08), All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project, ICAR.
  10. Anoymous (2008, b). Annual Research Report (2007-08), Central Cotton Research Institute, Multan, Pakistan, cited
  11. from ICAC Recorder, June 2008, 15 pp.
  12. Arif, Muhammad Iqbal; Rafiq, Muhammad and Ghaffar, Abdul. (2009). Host plants of cotton mealybug (Phenacoccus
  13. solenopsis): A new menace to cotton agrosystem of Punjab, Pakistan. Int. J. Agril. and Biology, 11(2): 163-167.
  14. Ben-Duv, Y. (2004). Scale Net, Phenacoccus solenopsis. Available from: http://198.77.169.79/catalogs/pseudoco/
  15. Phenacoccus solenopsis. htm (accesses September 9, 2004).
  16. Bhatt, N. A.; Jayani, D. B. and Patel, A. D. (2009). Mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley an emerging pest of bidi
  17. tobacco in Gujarat. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to
  18. Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh)
  19. on January 28-30, 2009, 38 pp.
  20. Brar, J. S., Satnam Singh, Aulakh, A. S., Suneet Pandher and Gursandep Singh. (2009). Status of mealy bug Phenacoccus
  21. solenopsis Tinsley at Faridkot, Punjab and its management. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National
  22. Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at
  23. CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30, 2009, 34 pp.
  24. Deora, A.; Saini, M. K.; Saini, S. and Dhawan, A. K. (2009). Field efficacy of bio-pesticides against mealy bug on
  25. cotton. Abstracts of National Conference: Impact of Global Warming on The Incidence and Management of
  26. 118 AGRICUTURAL REVIEWS
  27. Insect Pests in Agriculture held at Maharana Pratap Univeristy of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur on 5-7th
  28. March, 2009, 94 pp.
  29. Dhavan, A. K.; Singh, J. and Sindhu, A. S. (1980). Maconellicoccus sp. attacking arboretum cotton in Punjab. Science
  30. and Culture, 46: 258.
  31. Dhavan, A. K.; Singh, K.; Saini, S.; Mohindru, B.; Kaur, A.; Singh, G. and Singh, S. (2007). Incidence and damage
  32. potential of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on cotton in Punjab. Indian Journal of Ecology, 34:
  33. 110-116.
  34. Dhawan, A. K. and Saini, Sarika. (2009). Study on biology of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on cotton in
  35. Punjab. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging
  36. Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30,
  37. 2009, 35-36 pp.
  38. Dutt, U. (2007). Mealy bug infestation in Punjab: Bt cotton falls flat. Environment News Service, 21 August, 2007
  39. (countercurrents.org).
  40. Fuchs, T. W.; Stewart, J. W.; Minzenmayer, R. and Rose, M. (1991). First record of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley in
  41. cultivated cotton in the United States. Southwestern Entomologist, 16(3): 215-221.
  42. Jeykumar, P.; Tanwar, R. K.; Singh, J.; Singh, S.; Singh, A.; Dhandapani, A.; Sathyakumar, S.; Brar, J. S. and
  43. Bambawale, O. M. (2009). Impact of weather factors on cotton mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley.
  44. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging Pests
  45. in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30,
  46. 2009, 39 pp.
  47. Jhala, R. C. and Bharpoda, T. M. (2008). Occurrence in Gujarat and suggestions for action plan to combat the menace
  48. of mealy bugs on cotton. Paper presented in workshop organized by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation,
  49. Ministry of Agriculture, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi and held at NCIPM, IARI Campus, New Delhi on 05/01/
  50. 2008.
  51. Kamariya, N. M. (2009). Biology and control of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley infesting cotton. M. Sc.
  52. thesis submitted to Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh.
  53. Kulkarni, J. R. and Mote, U. N. (2003). Efficacy of Verticillium lecanii against mealybug on pomegranate. Journal of
  54. Applied Zoological Reasearch, 14(1): 59-60.
  55. Larrain, S. P. (2002). Insect and mite pest incidence on sweet pepinos (Solanum muricatum Ait.) cultivated in the IV
  56. Region, Chile. Agricultura Tecnica, 62(1): 15-26.
  57. Mark, P. and Gullan, P. (2005). A new pest of tomato and other recordes of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)
  58. from Espirito Santo, Brazil. Zootaxa, 964: 1-8.
  59. Moore, D. (1988). Agents used for biological control of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Biocontrol News and Information,
  60. 9(4): 209-225.
  61. Morais, M. (1995). Classical biological control of mealybugs, Pseudococcidae and the prospects for the pink mealybug,
  62. Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green. Tropical Fruits Newsletter, 17: 9-11.
  63. Muralidharan, C. M. and Badaya, S. N. (2000). Mealy bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera)
  64. out break on herbaceum cotton (Gossypium herbaceum) in Wagad cotton belt of Kachchh. Indian Journal of
  65. Agricultural Sciences, 70(10): 705-706.
  66. Radadia, G. G., Pandya, H. V., Patel, M. B. and Purohit, M. S. (2008). “Kapasana Mealy bugs (Chikto) ni Sankalit
  67. Niyantran Vyavastha”, an information bulletin published in Gujarati by Main Cotton research Station, Navsari
  68. Agricultural University, Presented on 7th August, 2008 at Navsari.
  69. Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010 119
  70. Shafqat, Saeed; Munir, Ahmad; Mushtaq, Ahmad and Yong Jung, Kwon. (2007). Insecticidal control of the mealy bug
  71. Phenacoccus gossypiphilous (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), a new pest of cotton in Pakistan. Entomological
  72. Research, 37(2): 76-80.
  73. Saroja, D. G. M., Prasad, Y. G. and Dixit, S. (2009). Incidence of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley and its
  74. parasitoids on cotton. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to
  75. Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh)
  76. on January 28-30, 2009, 42 pp.
  77. Sattar, M.; Hamed, M. and Nadeem, S. (2007). Predatory potential of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera:
  78. Chrysopidae) against cotton mealy bug. Pak. Entomol., 29(2): 103-106.
  79. Singh, R. and Dhawan, K. (2009). Evaluation of different insecticides against Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on
  80. transgenic cotton. J. Insect Sci., 22(1): 95-97.
  81. Tanwar, R. K., Jeykumar, P. and Monga, D. (2007). Mealy bugs and Their Management, NCIPM Technical Bulletin 19,
  82. 16 pp.
  83. Ujjan, A. A. and Saleem, Shahzad. (2007). Pathogenicity of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum strains on pink
  84. hibiscus mealy bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) affecting cotton crop. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 39(3): 967-
  85. 973.
Published In
Agricultural Reviews
Article Metrics
Metrics Icon
0
Views
0
Citations
Reviewed By
Share Article
Download Article
In this Article
    Contact us
    Follow us

    volume 31 issue 2 (june 2010) : 113 - 119

    COTTON MEALY BUG, PHENACOCCUS SOLENOPSIS TINSLEY – A REVIEW

    M
    M.D. Joshi
    P
    P.G. Butani
    V
    V.N. Patel1
    P
    P. Jeyakumar2
    1Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh- 362 001 India

    • Submitted|

    • First Online |

    • doi

    Cite article:- Joshi M.D., Butani P.G., Patel1 V.N., Jeyakumar2 P. (2025). COTTON MEALY BUG, PHENACOCCUS SOLENOPSIS TINSLEY – A REVIEW. Agricultural Reviews. 31(2): 113 - 119. doi: .

    ABSTRACT

    Mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley is a serious pest of cotton limiting the production
    and quality of fibre and lint. It is a polyphagous pest and multiply on different hosts like field
    crops, horticultural, fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants. They suck a large amount of sap
    from leaves and stems depriving plants of essential nutrients showing the symptoms like retarded
    growth, late opening of bolls and total drying of the plant. The yield losses due to the pest are
    estimated upto 50 per cent. Mealy bugs are cottony in appearance, small, oval, soft-bodied
    sucking insects covered with white mealy wax, which makes them difficult to eradicate. An
    individual mealy bug survived for 25-38 days. Effective control of the pest can be achieved
    through an integrated pest management approach. Field sanitation, uprooting of infested plants,
    dusting of methyl parathion 2 per cent or spraying of profenophos 50 EC or chlorpyriphos 25 EC
    or quinalphos 25 EC help to reduce the pest population. Aenasius bambawalei Hayat, Anagyrus
    kamali Mani, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mulsant), Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), Verticillium
    lecanii (Zimmermann) and Beauveria bassiana (Vuillemin) are the effective biological control
    agents in managing the infestation of the pest

    REFERENCES

    1. Abbas, G., Arif, M. J. and Saeed, S. (2005). Systematic status of new species of genus Phenacoccus Cockerell
    2. (Pseudococcidae), a serious pest of cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. in Pakistan. Pakistan Entomology, 27: 83-84.
    3. Akintola, A. J. and Ande, A. T. (2008). First record of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on
    4. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Nigeria. Agricultural Journal, 3: 1-3.
    5. Anonymous (1978). A mealy bug (Phenacoccus solenopsis) - Florida. Cooperative Plant Pest Report, 3(44-47): 622.
    6. Anonymous (2009, a). AICCIP, ICAR, Annual Report, 2008-09.
    7. Anonymous (2009, b). Survey of insect pests in major crops of North Suarashtra Agro climatic Zone. Annual Research
    8. Report (2008-09) of Agricultural Entomology, MDFRS, JAU, Targhadia, pp 7.
    9. Anoymous (2008, a). Annual Report (2007-08), All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project, ICAR.
    10. Anoymous (2008, b). Annual Research Report (2007-08), Central Cotton Research Institute, Multan, Pakistan, cited
    11. from ICAC Recorder, June 2008, 15 pp.
    12. Arif, Muhammad Iqbal; Rafiq, Muhammad and Ghaffar, Abdul. (2009). Host plants of cotton mealybug (Phenacoccus
    13. solenopsis): A new menace to cotton agrosystem of Punjab, Pakistan. Int. J. Agril. and Biology, 11(2): 163-167.
    14. Ben-Duv, Y. (2004). Scale Net, Phenacoccus solenopsis. Available from: http://198.77.169.79/catalogs/pseudoco/
    15. Phenacoccus solenopsis. htm (accesses September 9, 2004).
    16. Bhatt, N. A.; Jayani, D. B. and Patel, A. D. (2009). Mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley an emerging pest of bidi
    17. tobacco in Gujarat. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to
    18. Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh)
    19. on January 28-30, 2009, 38 pp.
    20. Brar, J. S., Satnam Singh, Aulakh, A. S., Suneet Pandher and Gursandep Singh. (2009). Status of mealy bug Phenacoccus
    21. solenopsis Tinsley at Faridkot, Punjab and its management. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National
    22. Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at
    23. CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30, 2009, 34 pp.
    24. Deora, A.; Saini, M. K.; Saini, S. and Dhawan, A. K. (2009). Field efficacy of bio-pesticides against mealy bug on
    25. cotton. Abstracts of National Conference: Impact of Global Warming on The Incidence and Management of
    26. 118 AGRICUTURAL REVIEWS
    27. Insect Pests in Agriculture held at Maharana Pratap Univeristy of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur on 5-7th
    28. March, 2009, 94 pp.
    29. Dhavan, A. K.; Singh, J. and Sindhu, A. S. (1980). Maconellicoccus sp. attacking arboretum cotton in Punjab. Science
    30. and Culture, 46: 258.
    31. Dhavan, A. K.; Singh, K.; Saini, S.; Mohindru, B.; Kaur, A.; Singh, G. and Singh, S. (2007). Incidence and damage
    32. potential of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on cotton in Punjab. Indian Journal of Ecology, 34:
    33. 110-116.
    34. Dhawan, A. K. and Saini, Sarika. (2009). Study on biology of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on cotton in
    35. Punjab. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging
    36. Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30,
    37. 2009, 35-36 pp.
    38. Dutt, U. (2007). Mealy bug infestation in Punjab: Bt cotton falls flat. Environment News Service, 21 August, 2007
    39. (countercurrents.org).
    40. Fuchs, T. W.; Stewart, J. W.; Minzenmayer, R. and Rose, M. (1991). First record of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley in
    41. cultivated cotton in the United States. Southwestern Entomologist, 16(3): 215-221.
    42. Jeykumar, P.; Tanwar, R. K.; Singh, J.; Singh, S.; Singh, A.; Dhandapani, A.; Sathyakumar, S.; Brar, J. S. and
    43. Bambawale, O. M. (2009). Impact of weather factors on cotton mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley.
    44. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to Combat Emerging Pests
    45. in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh) on January 28-30,
    46. 2009, 39 pp.
    47. Jhala, R. C. and Bharpoda, T. M. (2008). Occurrence in Gujarat and suggestions for action plan to combat the menace
    48. of mealy bugs on cotton. Paper presented in workshop organized by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation,
    49. Ministry of Agriculture, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi and held at NCIPM, IARI Campus, New Delhi on 05/01/
    50. 2008.
    51. Kamariya, N. M. (2009). Biology and control of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley infesting cotton. M. Sc.
    52. thesis submitted to Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh.
    53. Kulkarni, J. R. and Mote, U. N. (2003). Efficacy of Verticillium lecanii against mealybug on pomegranate. Journal of
    54. Applied Zoological Reasearch, 14(1): 59-60.
    55. Larrain, S. P. (2002). Insect and mite pest incidence on sweet pepinos (Solanum muricatum Ait.) cultivated in the IV
    56. Region, Chile. Agricultura Tecnica, 62(1): 15-26.
    57. Mark, P. and Gullan, P. (2005). A new pest of tomato and other recordes of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)
    58. from Espirito Santo, Brazil. Zootaxa, 964: 1-8.
    59. Moore, D. (1988). Agents used for biological control of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Biocontrol News and Information,
    60. 9(4): 209-225.
    61. Morais, M. (1995). Classical biological control of mealybugs, Pseudococcidae and the prospects for the pink mealybug,
    62. Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green. Tropical Fruits Newsletter, 17: 9-11.
    63. Muralidharan, C. M. and Badaya, S. N. (2000). Mealy bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera)
    64. out break on herbaceum cotton (Gossypium herbaceum) in Wagad cotton belt of Kachchh. Indian Journal of
    65. Agricultural Sciences, 70(10): 705-706.
    66. Radadia, G. G., Pandya, H. V., Patel, M. B. and Purohit, M. S. (2008). “Kapasana Mealy bugs (Chikto) ni Sankalit
    67. Niyantran Vyavastha”, an information bulletin published in Gujarati by Main Cotton research Station, Navsari
    68. Agricultural University, Presented on 7th August, 2008 at Navsari.
    69. Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010 119
    70. Shafqat, Saeed; Munir, Ahmad; Mushtaq, Ahmad and Yong Jung, Kwon. (2007). Insecticidal control of the mealy bug
    71. Phenacoccus gossypiphilous (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), a new pest of cotton in Pakistan. Entomological
    72. Research, 37(2): 76-80.
    73. Saroja, D. G. M., Prasad, Y. G. and Dixit, S. (2009). Incidence of mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley and its
    74. parasitoids on cotton. Symposium Abstracts. Proceedings of the National Symposium on IPM Strategies to
    75. Combat Emerging Pests in the Current Scenario of Climate Change held at CAU, Pasighet (Arunachal Pradesh)
    76. on January 28-30, 2009, 42 pp.
    77. Sattar, M.; Hamed, M. and Nadeem, S. (2007). Predatory potential of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera:
    78. Chrysopidae) against cotton mealy bug. Pak. Entomol., 29(2): 103-106.
    79. Singh, R. and Dhawan, K. (2009). Evaluation of different insecticides against Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley on
    80. transgenic cotton. J. Insect Sci., 22(1): 95-97.
    81. Tanwar, R. K., Jeykumar, P. and Monga, D. (2007). Mealy bugs and Their Management, NCIPM Technical Bulletin 19,
    82. 16 pp.
    83. Ujjan, A. A. and Saleem, Shahzad. (2007). Pathogenicity of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum strains on pink
    84. hibiscus mealy bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) affecting cotton crop. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 39(3): 967-
    85. 973.
    In this Article
      Contact us
      Follow us
      Published In
      Agricultural Reviews

      Editorial Board

      View all (0)