Germplasm evaluation of mango for preference of the mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus (Walker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae): The first step in understanding the host plant resistance

Mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus (Walker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is a serious pest of mango that breeds on new shoots in September. November and on inflorescence in December. February. The population from the shoots becomes the precursor to the population on mango inflorescence. So, preference of I. nitidulus to various accession of mango germplasm during vegetative shoot stage is crucial. A study was carried out at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, India (12° 8’N; 77° 35’E) during two alternate years 2010 and 2012. Of 392 accessions evaluated, 32 accessions were identified as less preferred which in spite of conducive breeding/feeding niches for hoppers (new shoots) showed zero hopper population in both the years. If found validated when challenged with hoppers, these can be utilized by breeders for developing resistant accession. For the moderate to highly susceptible accessions correlation analysis revealed positive significant correlation between the mean percentage shooting and mean hopper population confirming their susceptibility.