Biological studies on mango shoot gall psylla, Apsylla cistellata Buckton in Himachal Pradesh

Studies on the biology and incidence of Apsylla cistellata in Himachal Pradesh revealed that each female laid 82.20±29.00 eggs on either side of the midrib of a single leaf. Freshly laid egg looked like a rectangular block with rounded corners. The incubation period ranged between 191–211 days. Freshly hatched nymph was yellowish in colour, but changed in size and colour with time. There were six nymphal instars. Each instar moulted after a duration of about one month except 2^nd nymphal instar, which moulted 2–3 weeks after hatching. Therefore only one generation occurred in a year. The nymphal period was about five to six months. The peak adult emergence was recorded in the first week of March. Both male and female differed in size and shape of abdomen. The female and male measured 3.09±0.08 and 1.80±0.09 mm long and 1.76±0.04 and 0.95±0.05 mm wide, respectively. Field surveys conducted in January 2002 and 2003 showed mango psylla infestation at all the selected districts of Himachal Pradesh. Cultural control practice of removal of eggs bearing leaves from a shoot resulted in 95.57 percent decrease in number of shoot galls over control.