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First Record of Blister beetle Meloe rugosus M. (Coleoptera: Meloidae), as insect pest on some field crops in Farafra Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

Article

Last updated: 22 Jan 2023

Subjects

-

Tags

Plant Protection

Abstract

The blister beetle Meloe rugosus Marsham, ( Coleoptera : Meloidae ) was recorded for the first time as a serious insect pest attacking winter crops , particularly faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) and wheat ( Triticium aestivum ) in Farafra Oasis, western desert of Egypt. Beans, peas, alfalfa, Egyptian berseem, onion and the wild weed, Meliolotus indica L. were also recorded as host plants of this species. Adult beetles are phytophagous feeding plant foliage and flowers and under the stress of high population, plants may suffer death. Beetles occurred from early as November until late May. Through field observations in mid-January, the mating stage begins, where the male and female meet through the female sex pheromone. It was noted that the male searches for the female in the early morning, and when one of them meets the other, the mating stage initiate and the eggs are laid in the soil. During swarming and feeding, beetles secrete cantharidin fluid, a potent blister agent and long-term health threat to nearly all livestock feeding on plants hay. Field observations on insect behavior, eggs, crop damage, and activity and host plants were briefly explained.

DOI

10.21608/sjas.2020.30914.1027

Keywords

First record, Meloe rugosus, Field observations, crop damage

Authors

First Name

Wael

Last Name

El-Sheikh

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Beni-Suef University, Egypt, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt

Email

wael.elzaher@agr.bsu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

2

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

10139

Issue Date

2020-06-01

Receive Date

2020-05-23

Publish Date

2020-06-01

Page Start

26

Page End

30

Print ISSN

2535-1796

Online ISSN

2535-180X

Link

https://sjas.journals.ekb.eg/article_92820.html

Detail API

https://sjas.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=92820

Order

4

Type

Original Article

Type Code

916

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Scientific Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Publication Link

https://sjas.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

-

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023