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The seasonal abundance of Characoma stictigrapta on amelonado and amazon cocoa in Ibadan, Nigeria (2008-2010).
Source publication
The cocoa podhusk borer (Characoma stictigrapta) is an economically important insect pest of cocoa in West and Central Africa. The seasonal damage by the larvae of the pest on pods of two major varieties of cocoa (Amelonado and Amazon) in Ibadan, Nigeria was investigated between 2008 and 2010. A total of 200 cocoa trees for each variety were sample...
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Citations
... The cocoa pod borer (C. stictigrapta) is another major pest of cocoa (Anikwe et al. 2009(Anikwe et al. , 2014. The adult female of the cocoa pod borer lays eggs on the cocoa pod surface, and the larvae or caterpillars bore into the young, green pods of all sizes (Lim 1992). ...
Ecological role of insects in cocoa agroforestry systems is a key component of biodiversity that generally underlines what insects do in cocoa agroforestry systems. Although insects are often under-appreciated and viewed by many cocoa farmers as a nuisance and pests, they provide a diversity of ecosystem services in cocoa agroforestry systems. Farm management practices affect the role and function of these insects, and consequently the ecosystem services and disservices they provide. This paper reviews the importance of insects in cocoa agroforestry systems and examines five major ecosystem service that insects provide. It also highlights farm management practices that affect ecosystem services and disservices provided by insects in cocoa agroforestry systems. The paper further summarizes some of the major and minor insect pest species that can be found in cocoa agroforestry systems, the damages they cause, as well as their management strategies. The conclusion provides insight on how to conserve valuable ecosystem services provided by insects in cocoa agroforestry systems, suggests innovative farm management practices to reduce disservices provided by some insect pest species, and offers recommendations for future research.
... The highest mirid infestation rate of 19.2% recorded for Oyo state in this study could also be attributed to the general non-maintenance of their farms as all the cocoa farms visited were partially abandoned. The cocoa pod husk borer Characoma stictigrapta (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is an economically important pest of cocoa in West Africa [24,25] . Termite is a major pest of cocoa in the study location. ...
A field survey was conducted in the cocoa growing states in Southwest Nigeria in the 2017/2018 year with the objective of assessing the incidence and intensity of diseases and pests affecting cocoa farms in the region. Data were collected by random sampling of 100 trees in three farms in three local government areas of each state. The trees were screened for the presence or absence of insect pests, disease symptoms, parasitic and saprophytic weeds. All the data generated were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics of their various means and reported in percentages. Black pod and the cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV) are the main disease affecting the region with black pod being very severe (51.56%). Major insect pests in the region are cocoa mirid (11.44%), termites (13.16%) and the pod husk borer (7.46%). Mistletoes and moss weed pests were recorded in the region. Management strategies to control the pest and to prevent the transportation of the pest and/or disease material into a state of low incidence should be developed.
Keywords: Cocoa, mirids, black pod, insect pests, diseases, incidence, infestation
