PIANTE AROMATICHE E MEDICINALI: L’ ENTOMOCENOSI DEL CAPPERO IN SICILIA

Abstract

Guilds of herbivore insects of medicinal and aromatic plants are generally composed by poliphagous insects that only occasionally are present at high infestation levels. In this paper the main insect pests observed on Capper spinosa (L.) in Sicily are described. The key pests of this crop are Capparimyia savastani (Martelli) – (Diptera: Tephritidae), Asphondylia gennadii (Marchal) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), and, the painted bug Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). Infestations of other insect pests are also occasionally recorded as the case of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), in the island of Ustica; the cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), in the island of Salina; the oleander scale, Aspidiotus nerii Bouchè (Homoptera: Dispididae), and the citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri Risso (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in the island of Pantelleria. Notes on distribution, biology and damages of these herbivore insects are given, and the possible strategies for their control are briefly discussed.