Nezara viridula Linneaus

Gupta, Ruchie & Pathania, P. C., 2017, Report on Hemipteran pest diversity on apple plantations (Malus domestica Borkh.) in Jammu and Kashmir State of India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (4), pp. 356-356 : 356-

Nezara viridula Linneaus (Plate-1, Figure. d)

Taxonomicstatus: Hemiptera :Pentatomoidea: Pentatomidae Distribution: Southern green stink bug has worldwide distribution and found in New Zealand, America Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe and India ( Waterhouse & Norris, 1987; Hoffmann et al., 1991 and Gupta, 2013).

Present Locality: Nezara viridula is found as a main pest throughout the studied districts viz. Doda, Ramban, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Kishtwar of Jammu Province.

Host plants: Polyphagous pest feed on soyabean, Phaseolus vulgaris , Riccinus communis, Desmodium sp., Crotolaria sp. , Raphanus raphanistrum L., mustard, wheat, Dalbergia sissoo ( Kalia & Lal,1999) , beans, cabbage, corn, crucifers, cucurbits, cotton, green beans, mango, oats, orchids, okra, peppers, potatoes, pigeon peas, peanuts, rye, sorghum, tomatoes, tobacco, clover, small gram, spring vegetable, corn, leguminous weeds, cruciferous plants, ( Panizzi et al., 2000), paddy ( Pal, 2006), citrus ( Chhetry, 2009) and apple ( Bhardwaj and Bhardwaj, 1983; Gupta, 2013).

Diagnostic features: Body light green, punctuate, spotless, shield shaped, ovoid, dorsal surface dull, closely punctuate especially on pronotum and scutellum; head closely punctuate, elongate with poster lateral margins slightly elevated upward, constructed apically, horizontal; antennae 5-segmented, longer than head, ventrally located; pedicel small, visible from dorsum, first flagellomere green at base, distal part black; finely pubescent, apical and antepenultimate antennal segments spindle shaped; Eyes prominent, bulged, placed on lateral sides of the head; ocelli, oval, inwardly directed, at the base of the head; proboscis 4- segmented, lasts till hind coxae; basal segment of proboscis lies between the mentum (bucculae); pronotum proclinate, large, punctuate, hind margin straight, a small toothed projection at the anterolateral angle, lateral margin entire; scutellum large, green, punctuate, convex, broad, more or less triangular; elytra punctuate, membrane with few lateral veins; legs unequal, hind legs long. Tarsi three segmented; claws apically placed, lateral sides of abdomen visible dorsally.

Damage: The bug feeds on the entire plant but it specifically prefers young tender shoots. Attacked portions usually become pale and die. Damaged fruit suffers brownish perforations or spots. These pierced spots affect the fruit’s quality and reduce its commercial value.