Cladosporium cladosporioides: A new report of parasitism on sugarcane woolly aphid, Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner

Abstract

Studies were conducted on mycoses of entomopathogenic fungus naturally occurring on sugarcane white woolly aphid, Ceratovacuna lanigera Zetner during winter, 2018 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Anakapalle, India. Acremonium zeylanicum, Beauveria bassiana, Cladosporium oxysporum, Metarrhizium anisopliae, Nomuraea rileyi and Verticillium lecanii were reported to parasitize sugarcane white wooly aphid. During December 2018, a fungus was isolated from parasitized nymphs and adults of C. lanigera and characterized as Cladosporium cladosporioides based on morphological characters and molecular analysis. The parasitism of C. cladosporioides on C. lanigera was visualized using light and electron microscopy at the host-parasite interface. Microscopic studies revealed that the nymphs and adults of wooly aphid were completely overgrown by mycelia of C. cladosporioides. The mycelium of C. cladosporioides has penetrated and disrupted the hydrophobic powdery waxy coating of wooly aphid adult. Overall, our study indicates that C. cladosporioides had potential as biological agent for management of sugarcane wooly aphid. This bioagent needs further evaluation under field conditions to establish the potential parasitism of Cladosporium isolate against wooly aphid and its effects on other hosts.