Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) feeding on Physalis peruviana (Solanaceae) in the highlands of Brazil

The highlands, in the Serra do Espinhaço, comprise the only “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” (GIAHS) in Brazil, a title granted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO/UN) (Santos et al., 2021). Studies have been conducted in this GIAHS, especially to adapt new fruit species of high added value to production systems.

Physalis peruviana Linnaeus (Solanaceae) is a semi-shrub, erect, perennial plant in subtropical areas, native to the Andean region of South America (Fischer and Almanza-Merchán, 1993). The production estimated per plant of this species is between 2-3 kg with a cycle lasting up to eight months (Lima et al., 2012; Aparecido et al., 2019). The fruits of P. peruviana are marketed fresh or processed and anti-tumor, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory activities are associated with their consumption (Dkhil et al., 2014; Hjartåker et al., 2015). In addition, P. peruviana is valued for its high antioxidant power and phenolic content (Dag et al., 2017).

Colombia and South Africa are the main world producers of P. peruviana, but this plant is also cultivated in Egypt, Ecuador, Peru, Kenya and Zimbabwe (Afsah, 2015; Bazalar Pereda et al., 2019). In Brazil, the cultivation of P. peruviana started in 1999 in the state of São Paulo and expanded to regions of altitude in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. This plant is cultivated mainly by small and medium producers providing a new type of edible fruit in the country (Muniz et al., 2014; Fariña et al., 2019). A large portion of the harvest is for domestic consumption, but it is also exported to Colombia (Salazar et al., 2008; Osorio Mora et al., 2016). The climatic conditions of the Brazilian highlands favor the cultivation of P. peruviana, but pests of this plant need to be studied in this region (Soares et al., 2014).

The objective of this work was to describe, for the first time, the occurrence of a species of Edessa (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) feeding and reproducing on P. peruviana plants.

Adults, postures and immatures of a species of the genus Edessa (Figure 1) were observed between October and December 2019 and 2020, feeding on P. peruviana plants grown in an experimental area of the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM) in the municipality of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil (18°12’ S; 43°34’ W; 1,387 masl). The climate of this region is Cwb - dry winter subtropical highland (Köppen, 1936).

Figure 1
Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) adults on leaf (A), eggs and immature on leaf (B), adults on stems (C) and on fruit (D) of Physalis peruviana (Solanaceae) in Diamantina, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

Edessa adults were collected, preserved in 70% alcohol in glass vials, assembled with entomological pins and sent to Dr. José Antônio Marin Fernandes of the Biology Department at the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) in Belém, state of Pará, Brazil, who identified them as Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius, 1794) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). The insects used for identification were kept in the UFPA reference entomological collection.

Edessa meditabunda is the most studied species of this genus and originally from the Neotropical region (Husch et al., 2014). This stink bug feeds on photoassimilates of host plants, especially Glycine max L. (Szczerbowski et al., 2020), in addition to cultivated species of Fabaceae and Solanaceae, such as Phaseolus vulgaris L., Pisum sativum L., Solanum lycopersicum L. and Solanum tuberosum L. (Husch et al., 2014) and also feeds on the wild plant Physalis angulata L. (Krinski, 2013). The pest prefers vegetative structures (Panizzi and Lucini, 2019) but also damage pods causing dark lesions, which reduce plant productivity (Husch et al., 2014). The damage caused by E. meditabunda when uncontrolled can cause leaf retention and reduced germination and yield (Fonseca et al., 2017). Adults and nymphs of E. meditabunda fed on leaves and stems of P. peruviana. Postures of this insect were observed on this plant throughout the evaluation period (Figure 1).

Edessa meditabunda have potential to cause severe damages on the exotic fruit plant P. peruviana cultivated in Brazil. This insect should thus be included in programs of integrated pest management (IPM) for this crop.

Acknowledgements

To the Brazilian institutions “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)”, “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES - Finance Code 001)”, “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)” and “Programa Cooperativo sobre Proteção Florestal (PROTEF) do Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Florestais (IPEF)” for financial support.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  20 Aug 2021
• Date of issue
  2023

History

• Received
  09 Feb 2021
• Accepted
  08 Apr 2021