Abstract

Spider mites, especially members of Schizotetranychus represent a common and dominant group of bamboo pests, enjoying worldwide distribution. The present paper highlights the feeding attributes of a notorious species of bamboo spider mite, viz. Schizotetranychus schizopus (Zacher, 1913) infesting the Indian Thorny Bamboo, Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss. Observations on feeding behavior of the mite were completed in the laboratory by collecting mite specimens from infested leaves of bamboo plants grown in Calicut University Botanical Garden. The species showed initial colonization on the abaxial surface of bamboo leaves, adjacent to the midrib and feeding activity of the members of the colony resulted in the development of damage symptoms like chlorotic spots, white patches, yellowing etc. Comparative analysis of the biochemical constituents of mite infested and uninfested leaves of B. bambos revealed significant alterations. Mite infested bamboo leaves presented significantly reduced values of chlorophyll fluorescence (30.10% loss in Fv/Fm ratio) thereby indicating a decline of photosynthetic efficiency. Significant reduction in total carbohydrate (58.87%) and total protein (21.02%) contents also could be accounted in mite infested leaves. Meanwhile, mite infestation was found to enhance the production of stress compounds such as Total Phenol (22.86%) and Proline (69.05%). An increase in the uptake of micro and macronutrients like Potassium (18.87%), Calcium (36.66%), Copper (48.76%) and Zinc (19.62%) was also observed in mite infested leaves. Despite this, the uptake of nutrients such as Phosphorus (8.22%), Magnesium (3.55%), Sulphur (1.54%), Iron (11.46%), Manganese (13.64%) and Boron (30.09%) significantly decreased owing to mite infestation. Significant decrease in moisture content also was evident in the mite infested bamboo leaves. The results of the study helped to evidence the biotic stress induced by the mite on its bamboo host, by promoting enhanced production of Total Phenol, Proline, Potassium, Calcium, Copper and Zinc which would play a substantial role in the defense mechanism of the plant.