Family. Tingidae.
Order. Hemiptera.
Common name. Cassava lace bug, kepik renda singkong (Indonesia).
Distribution. The native ranges of V. illudens include the Carribean, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, and Venezuela. Recently, well-established populations of V. illudens have been reported from Florida (USA) and Reunion Island (Africa). The presence of the insect in Indonesia was first reported from East Java by Puspitarini et al. (2021). It has now spread widely throughout Java and Sumatera.
Host plants. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).
Description and biology. Adults of V. illudens are ash gray and measure about 3 mm long by 1 mm wide (Figure 1). The average life cycle of V. illudens lasts 22.0 days. Adult females live about 64.5 days with a preoviposition period of 7.0 days; while males live 17.7 days. The adults do not normally fly when on the plant, but do so over several meters when provoked.
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| Figure 1. Adult of Vatiga illudens (Photo: © Aunu Rauf) |
The female can lay, on average, 145.3 eggs, which she inserts into leaf tissue, preferably next to central nerves where they converge near the petiole. They thus become unnoticeable. The egg stage lasts approximately 10.1 days. Nymphs are off-white in color, with numerous spinules over their body (Figure 2). These nymphs undergo five instars whose average duration is 11.9 days.
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| Figure 2. Nymph of Vatiga illudens (Photo: © Aunu Rauf) |
Both adults and nymphs are found in large quantities on the undersides of leaves (Figure 3), and show preference for the basal and middle leaves of plants. Lace bug attacks occur mainly during the dry season.
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| Figure 3. The colony of Vatiga illudens on the underside of cassava leaf (Photo: © Wawan Yuandi) |
Nature of damage. Adults and nymphs feed on the undersurface of the lower plant leaves. Damaged leaves have small yellow spots that later turn reddish brown, resembling mite damage. This damage can reduce plant photosynthesis. In severe cases, the affected leaves have an almost white appearance (Figure 4). Potential yield losses caused by this insect is not known.
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| Figure 4. Cassava leaf damaged by Vatiga illudens (Photo: © Aunu Rauf) |
Natural enemies. A hemipteran of the family Miridae (Stethoconus sp.) (Figure 5) was observed preying on the nymphs and adults of V. illudens in the field.
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| Figure 5. Predatory mirid Stethoconus sp. (Photo: © Aunu Rauf) |
Additionally, several lace bugs were infected by an entomopathogenic fungus (Figure 6).
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| Figure 6. Adult of Vatiga illudens infected by entomopathogenic fungus (Photo: © Aunu Rauf) |
Halbert S. 2010. The cassava lace bug, Vatiga illudens (Drake) (Hemiptera: Tingidae), a new wxotic lace bug in Florida. Pest Alert. FDACS-P-01727. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Puspitarini RD, Fernando I, Setiawan Y, Anggraini D, Rizqi HA. 2021. First record of the cassava lace bug Vatiga illudens (Drake, 1922) (Hemiptera: Tingidae) from East Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22(7): 2870-2876.
Streito J-C, Guilbert E, Merion S, Minatchy J, Pastou D. 2012. Premier signalement de Vatiga illudens (Drake, 1922), nouveau ravageur du Manioc dans les Mascareignes (Hemiptera: Tingidae). L'Entomologiste, tome 68 (6): 357-360.
Yasunaga T, Takai M, Nakatani Y. 1997. Species of the genus Stethoconus of Japan (Heteroptera, Miridae): Predaceous Deraecorine plant bugs associated with lace bugs (Tingidae). Appl Entomol Zool 32(1): 261-264.
Wengrat APGS, Rondon C, Barilli DR, Uemura-Lima DH, Fredrich JE, Pratis SBQ, Pietrowski V. 2015. Biologia de Vatiga illudens (Drake) (Hemiptera: Tingidae) em mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz). XVI Congresso Brasileiro de Mandioca.
Citation: https://indoagriinsecta.blogspot.com/2024/01/vatiga-illudens.html
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