First Record of Circular Leaf Miner Leucoptera scitella Zell. Infestation on Different Hosts in Syria

Diab, N., E. Al-Jouri, A. El-Monoufi and M. Ghosn. 2022. First Record of Circular Leaf Miner Leucoptera scitella Zell. Infestation on Different Hosts in Syria. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 40(3): 215-221. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP40.3.215221 The study was carried out in Al- Quneitra and Rif Damascus governorates during 2018 and 2019, where the circular leaf-miner Leucoptera scitella Zell (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) was recorded for the first time in Syria on several pome fruit trees (apples, pears and quince) and stone fruits (peaches and cherries) of the family Rosaceae. The observed symptoms and different insect stages were described and classified using specialized classification keys. The most important biometric measurements were recorded for the different insect stages. The average body length for young larval instars (L1 and L2) was 2.05±0.216 mm, and for large larval instars (L3 and L4) 3.72±0.283 mm. The average length of the pupa was 3.88±0.367 mm, whereas the average length of the adult female was 2.87±0.206 mm, and adult male was 2.05±0.150 mm. The results also showed that the early appearance of the insect on apple and pear hosts was in May with infestation rate of 14.2 and 6.57%, respectively, and on peach and quince hosts in July with infestation rate of 4.29 and 3.14%, respectively. On cherries, early appearance of the insect was in August with infestation rate of 12.57% in 2019. The highest infestation rate for the insect was 97.29% on apples in November, with significantly higher infestation rate than the other hosts (pears, peaches, cherries and quince), with infestation rate of 86.57, 31.86, 23.43 and 22.71%, respectively, and the differences were significant, except for the difference between cherry and quince hosts, which was not significant at P=0.05. Furthermore, infestation rate was highest in November in all hosts, followed by the month of October, and lowest in May in all investigated hosts. Keywords: First record, circular leaf-miner, Leucoptera scitella, preferred hosts, Syria