Zootaxa 3957 (2): 235–238 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition)

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Copyright © 2015 Magnolia Press
Correspondence ZOOTAXA
ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition)
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3957.2.8
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5C879096-2FE8-4873-8C34-A3380D545E9A

First record of cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti

(Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), in Malaysia

DEWI SARTIAMI1, GILLIAN W. WATSON2, MOHAMAD ROFF M.N3., MOHD HANIFAH Y3 & IDRIS. A.B1
1
School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43000,
Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail addresses: dsartiami@yahoo.com and idrisyatie@yahoo.com.my
2
Plant Pest Diagnostic Center, California Department of Food and Agriculture, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento CA 95832,
Sacramento, California, U.S.A. E-mail: gillian.watson@cdfa.ca.gov
3
Horticulture Research Center, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Persiaran MARDI-UPM, 43400 Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail addresses: roff@mardi.gov.my and hanifah58@yahoo.com

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz, Euphorbiaceae) is an important staple food crop in tropical countries. The leaves
and tubers are used for human consumption and livestock feed. The tubers are processed into starch (Winotai et al. 2010)
and biofuel (Howeler 2007). In Africa, cassava is a particularly important crop because the tubers can be stored to
provide staple food during severe droughts (Calatayud & Le Rü 2006).
In the 1970s, an undescribed mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) of Neotropical origin was accidentally
introduced into West Africa and devastated the cassava crop, causing up to 84% loss of yield (Nwanze 1982) and
endangering the subsistence of about 200 million people (Herren & Neuenschwander 1991). The mealybug has since
spread to 24 countries in Africa South of the Sahara (Ben-Dov 2015).
The cassava mealybug was described under the name Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Matile-Ferrero 1977),
and several years were spent searching for its area of origin in South America before an effective natural enemy,
Apoanagyrus lopezi (De Santis) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), was found (Löhr et al. 1990). This parasitoid wasp was then
introduced to West Africa for biological control of the mealybug (Herren & Neuenschwander 1991; Lorh et al.1990).
The biological control programme was very successful and has provided good control of the pest in Africa (Zeddies et al.
2001).
In 2008, cassava mealybug was discovered in Asia for the first time, damaging cassava in Thailand (Winotai et al.
2010). Subsequently it was found in Indonesia in 2010 (Muniappan et al. 2011), and in Cambodia and Vietnam in 2012
(Parsa et al. 2012). Phenacoccus manihoti has also been recorded in Laos (FAO 2014).
Since Malaysia is in the cassava belt of southern Asia and lies adjacent to Thailand, where the mealybug is present,
a survey for cassava mealybug was carried out in Peninsular Malaysia by Dewi Sartiami and Mohd. Hanifah in 2014 to
check for its presence.
The survey began in Selangor, then extended to five other states (Johor, Kedah, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu).
Each sample location was recorded using GPS. Mealybug-infested cassava was collected into labeled plastic bags in the
field before being taken to the laboratory at Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). A
stereo microscope with 10x to 40x magnifications was used to sort, preserve and slide-mount adult females using the
methods described by Sirisena et al. (2013). The specimens were stained with acid Fuchsin and mounted in Canada
Balsam before being viewed under a compound light microscope with magnifications of 40x to 400x. The mealybugs
were identified using keys provided by Cox & Williams (1981), Williams & Granara de Willink (1992) and Williams
(2004). Slide mounts were deposited at the Centre for Insect Systematics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (CIS-UKM),
43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Strategic, Environment and Natural Resource Research Centre, Persiaran MARDI-
UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Crop Protection Quarantine Division, Department of Agriculture
(CPQDOA), Jalan Gallagher, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and the California State Collection of Arthropods
(CSCA), Plant Pest Diagnostic Center, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento CA 95832, California, U.S.A.

Accepted by C. Hodgson: 17 Apr. 2015; published: 14 May 2015 235

FIGURE 1. Photographs of field-collected Phenacoccus manihoti: (A) infestation of the growing tip of cassava; (B) colony of the
mealybugs viewed under a stereo microscope; and (C) detail of two newly moulted and one reproductive adult female viewed under a
stereo microscope.

236 · Zootaxa 3957 (2) © 2015 Magnolia Press SARTIAMI ET AL.

 Phenacoccus manihoti was first found in Peninsular Malaysia in Selangor state and was identified from all six states
surveyed: MALAYSIA. Johor, Segamat, 2.293º N, 102.472º E, on Manihot esculenta, 17.vii.2014, coll. Mohd. Hanifah.
Kedah, Tikam Batu, 5.363º N, 100.283º E, on M. esculenta, 16.vi.2014, coll. Mohd. Hanifah. Pahang, Kuala Rompin,
2.389º N, 103.377º E, on M. esculenta, 10.x.2014, coll. D. Sartiami. Perak, Ipoh, 4.473º N, 100.566º E, on M. esculenta,
17.vi.2014, coll. Mohd. Hanifah. Selangor, Klang, MARDI Research Station, 2.595º N, 101.298º E, on M. esculenta,
12.iii.2014, coll. D. Sartiami. Terengganu, Kemaman, 4.142º N, 103.222º E, on M. esculenta, 21.iv.2014, coll. Mohd.
Hanifah.
Infestation of the growing points of cassava by P. manihoti causes the young leaves to curl and stunts the growth
(Fig. 1A). In life, the mealybugs appear pinkish (Figs 1B and 1C). No parasitized P. manihoti was found either in the
field or during preparation of the specimens for slide mounting.
In the field, mealybug colonies on cassava were sometimes found to contain a mixture of P. manihoti with one or
more of: Paracoccus marginatus Williams & Granara de Willink, Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi Gimpel & Miller and
Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell). All these species have been recorded feeding on cassava before (Parsa et al. 2012; Ben-Dov
2015).
Phenaoccus manihoti is thought to have been introduced to Thailand around 2008 (Winotai et al. 2010). The 2014
survey showed that the mealybug was already present in Malaysia, and the extent of the infestation suggests that it had
been present for some time. CLIMEX analysis by Parsa et al. (2012) had indicated that the climate in Malaysia was
suitable for establishment of the mealybug. However, the heavy rains in Malaysia can flush the mealybugs off the host-
plant, reducing abundance (Parsa et al. 2012).
The present new distribution record, combined with the records in Ben-Dov (2015), brings the known distribution of
cassava mealybug to: Neotropical Region (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay); Australasian Region
(Indonesia); African Region (Angola, Benin, Burundi, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire,
Zambia, Zanzibar); and Oriental Region (Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam).
Cassava mealybug has been recorded feeding on hosts belonging to Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae,
Lamiaceae, Malvaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Portulacaceae, Rutaceae and Solanaceae, including crops like citrus, Solanum
species and basil in addition to cassava. In Malaysia, cassava is a minor crop grown by smallholders but since the
mealybug threatens some other crops it must be considered as an economic pest there. It will therefore be important to
develop an ecologically friendly control method against P. manihoti in Malaysia.
Biological control is known to be very effective against this invasive pest (Zeddies 2001), but no parasitoids were
found in the Malaysian samples. Apoanagyrus lopezi has already been introduced to Thailand, where it has provided
effective control of the mealybug, and has since been introduced from Thailand to Indonesia (CIAT 2014; Wyckhuys et
al. 2014), and Laos (FAO 2014). The first priority in Malaysia should therefore be screening and introduction of A.
lopezi.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute for permission to
use their laboratory facilities, and Ms Susan McCarthy (Branch Chief of the Plant Pest Diagnostic Center, California
Department of Food and Agriculture) for access to library facilities at that facility. The authors would also like to thank
Mr. Zakaria Bakar, Ms. Siti Sakinah Abdullah and Mr Sulaiman Desa for their kind assistance with collection, sorting
material and GPS data.

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