Morpho-Molecular Characterization and Seasonality analysis of Greenidea psidii Van Der Goot on Guava in Terai Zone of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Greenidea psidii, Guava aphid comes under the subfamily Greenideinae within the Aphididae and was first discovered in the World in 1916 on guava. In terai region of West Bengal these species are regarded as potential pest of guava (Psidium guajava). Therefore, quick and precise species identification is immediately needed for early detection and risk analysis followed by integrated management of the aphid pests. During morpho- taxonomy study we found that apterous aphids have long sized siphunculi, alongwith long setae present on the body. Moreover, the identity of the aphid species was confirmed through DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase sub unit I (COX-I) gene, another analytical tool for quick and precise identification. The COX-I sequence was successfully blasted for similarity search and uploaded in NCBI software (Accession No. OR085959). Maximum likelihood method for phylogenetic analysis reveals that all the G. psidii sequences were clustered in the same clade and confirmed the identity of the species of the present study. The seasonal fluctuation studies reveals that the maximum population of 21.85 aphids/ twigs and 17.45 aphids/ twigs were observed on 10th SW during 2021 and on 11th SW during 2022, respectively.