Pests of Jatropha

[Matthew Cock]

I was looking for information on as to what insect pests and diseases attack Jatropha (either the crop J. curcas) or the weed (J. jatrophiifolia) and found very little so far. There was one abstract from India. The Australians have been working on the insects attacking the weed in the Neotropics, but have published very little on the associated insects. What else is out there?

[Andrea Powell]

I'm no expert, but I ran a search on CAB Direct using "jatropha curcas or jatrophiifolia" and then refined my search by using "pest or attack" in the abstract and came up with 30 records. One from an Indian journal (maybe this was the one you saw, Matthew) referring to Scutellera nobilis [Scutellera perplexa] and Chrysocoris purpureus, two scutellarid bug pests of Jatropha curcas. Then another one from Nicaragua stating "The majority of the foliar diseases observed were caused by fungi (Dothiorella sp., Colletotrichum sp., Oidium sp., Alternaria sp. and Fusarium sp.) and bacteria (Xanthomonas sp. ), but others were due to mites and abiotic factors. The angular spot caused by a Xanthomonas sp., was the most common disease found in the 2 varieties studied in all of the localities surveyed." I'm sure your trained eye would make more sense of these records than mine!
Andrea

[Alexis Rendell-Dunn]

I had a look on the Biofuels subset - there is some recent work from India on pests and diseases of jatropha (grapevine thrips - Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus; Jatropha leaf webber - Pempelia morosalis; a first report of Cucumber mosaic virus on Jatropha curcas in India; phytophagous mites - Polyphagotarsonemus latus and Tetranychus urticae; fungal infestation by Colletotrichum dematium).
Other studies also from India on the scutellarid bugs Andrea mentioned and red pumpkin beetles (Aulacophora foveicollis), and a stem canker disease Pestalotiopsis. Some studies too on promising biological control agents for the main insect pests of jatropha (...also in India)

[Matthew Cock]

Yes, you are right, Andrea/Alexis - I have spent too long using Google to find information and forgotten how to search the database.

Linking from one of these abstracts via google I found:

GRIMM, C. (1999), ‘Evaluation of damage to physic nut (Jatropha curcas) by true bugs’, Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 92(2): 127-36.

which wasn't in my search result. Searching for Grimm in the biofuels abstracts then gave me much more information not located in the first search.

BTW, I find that when you highlight the green title in the abstracts search result, the bright green title to which it changes is almost illegible.

[Andrea Powell]

Yes, it is a bit lurid! All to do with the branding! As you know, we are in the process of redeveloping the CAB Direct platform, so I'll pass on your feedback and we'll make sure that the new version (which is due for launch in early 2009) is a bit kinder on the eyes.

[JOSE INES BAZAN-MOTA]

Here some pictures of a Polyphagotarsonemus latus attack, the only pest on a one-hundred days plantation at Tecomán, Colima, México.

This mite was reported also at Brasil.

[Hoai Cam Vo]

I also have some photos of Jatropha curcas L which have the same like you. But in fact, I don't know wheter the plants on these are attacked or have no problem.

[Anne-Claire Degail]

Hello,

I have observed quite severe damage made by locusts on jatropha in Mali. Hereafter a few pictures of Polygomorpha cognata and Zonocerus variegatus.

Polygomorpha cognata attacks the young apical meristems therebye affecting growth and eats the leaves.

Zonocerus variegatus comes in a colony on a couple of trees in a plantation and eats up all the leaves.

For more interesting information on locusts and grasshoppers I advise you to look up the following website: http://locust.cirad.fr/principales_especes/index.htm

Cheers

Anne-Claire

[YERIKO OBREGON]

producer of Jatropha curcas l no toxic mexican variety and variety of nigeria, africa variety toxic, Grasshopper found this light green that eats the leaves of the variety toxic.

[JOSE INES BAZAN-MOTA]

I found this grasshopper on a plant near a flower stalk, it remained on for more than 10 minutes without damaging. I really don't know if this species can eat leaves of jatropha. Someboby known the name and host range of this grasshopper?

[Dr. Kins Varghese]

Grasshoppers are not reported to have created damage economically. However, they are been noticed in the fields of jatropha.

[Hoai Cam Vo]

Grasshopper found this light green that eats the leaves of the variety toxic. Grasshopper causes many damages such as leaf spots so that  lose the total biomass of plant

[Hoai Cam Vo]

Can you name some of these grasshopper in the photos below? Tks