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Abstract

The parasitism of parasitic vascular plants of the Loranthaceae family is an ecological problem due to the high number of woody host and fruit species that they parasitize. The aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge of the woody plants which host epiphytoid parasites (Loranthaceae) in agrosystems based on cocoa trees. The inventories by surface survey and itinerant methods, completed with direct observations were carried out. In total, 73 host species of Loranthaceae were inventoried in cocoa trees in the department of Daloa. This taxonomic diversity of hosts, distributed in 55 genera and 22 families is infested by 4 parasitics (Globimetula dinklagei subsp. assiana, Phragmanthera capitata, Tapinanthus bangwensis and T. globiferus) Among these parasites, T. bangwensis is the most frequent and abundant on the hosts. The infestation rate of the inventoried host trees and shrubs is of the order of 29.46% and the infestation intensity is 2.98 tufts/tree. Among the host cohort, 21.92% of fruit species economically important to farmers are heavily parasitized.