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794 outbreak has also been reported occur in more than 7500 hectares on gmelina plantation in
Perhutani forest area since 2010 Sumantoro et al., 2012. Previously, there was no report about T. beesoni infestation on gmelina in Indonesia. In a review of gmelina pest and diseases
in Indonesia by Nair and Sumardi 2000, there was no T. beesoni infestation reported, so it means infestation of T. beesoni on gmelina in Indonesia is a new case. The heavy infestation of
T. beesoni can make severe defoliation of gmelina and make serious problem in gmelina plantation. In this paper, we try to compare the infestation of T. beesoni on gmelina in two
different geographic condition, the dry lowland and wet highland area. This paper studies the intensity of infestation in some different geographical location of
gmelina plantation.
2. MATERIAL AND METHOD
The survey was conducted in two different geographical condition, dry lowland and wet highland area. Lowland area was described as area under 100 m a.s.l and highland area was
above 300 m a.s.l. For lowland area, survey was conducted in Situbondo and Karangasem district, meanwhile for highland area, survey was conducted in Garut and Sukabmi Districts.
Survey was carried out in 2012. Geographically, Situbondo District is located in the Province of East Java
7°35’ - 7°44 S and 113°30’ – 114°42’ E. The northern area is lowland and the southern is highland. Meanwhile,
Karangasem District is located in the Province of Bali 08°2718 - 08°3301 S and 115°2423’’ - 115°2847 E, Garut District is located in the Province of West Java 6º5649 -
7º4500 S and 107º258 - 108º730 E, and Sukabumi is located in the Province of West Java 6°57’ - 7°25’ S and 106°49’ - 107°00’ E.
The level of T. beesoni infestation was determined based on the level of gmelina crown damage. It is ranked from healthy to very heavy, spanning five level Table 1.
Table 1: Classification level of crop damage due to T. beesoni infestation
Level of infestation Damage on crown tree
Healthy Damage
5 Low
Damage between 5 x 25
Moderate Damage between 25 x
50 Heavy
Damage between 50 x 75
Very heavy Damage between 75 x
100
Nandini et al., 2012 with little modification
3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Previously, some insect pests associated with gmelina have been recorded in Indonesia Nair and Sumardi 2000. No major insect pests have been found in gmelina plantation although
there are minor pests. Some of these were Prionoxystus sp Lepidoptera, Cossidae, Alcidodes ludificator and Apion argulicolle Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Xyleborus fornicates Coleoptera,
Scolytidae, Selepa celtis Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, and Calopepla leayana Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae.
Since 2010, a new Hemipteran was recorded to infest large scale of gmelina plantation. The insect pest then was identified as Tingis beesoni Drake Figure 1 Anggraeni and Mindawati
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795 2011; Sumantoro et al., 2012. T. beesoni belongs to the order of Hemiptera and the family of
Tingidae. Tingidae is a family of small insects 2 –10 mm that are commonly reffered to as
lace bug, and most of them recognizable by the areolate pronotum and hemelytra Miller, 2008.
Figure 1: Tingis beesoni nymph T. beesoni has five nymphal instars taking from 9 to 30 days to complete their life cycle,
depending on the season. Eggs are laid over a period of 4 –5 days in small batches and then
hatch in 2 –6 days. The nymphs congregate on the lower surfaces of the foliage and suck sap at
the base of the lamina or in the axils of leaves. Adults are quite active in summer and move about on the under-surface of leaves and new shoots for feeding Wylie and Speight, 2011;
Mathur, 1979. The affected leave looked like brown colour as a result of necrotic Figure 2a. A feeding group of T. beesoni may comprise as many as 60 nymphs Figure 2b.
Figure 2: Symptom of T. beesoni infestation. a Leave affected by T. beesoni; b Group of T. beesoni nymphs
Infestation of T. beesoni is often has association with disease infection make the plant get more severe. Infestation of T. beesoni in the wet season provided conditions favouring the infection
of damaged plants by the canker-causing H. toruloidea Wylie and Speight, 2011. The fungus was capable of invading and killing plants within a year. Another association also reported by
Anggraeni and Mindawati 2011 where Colletotrichum sp. infection happened after T. beesoni attack.
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796 Based on our survey in two different geographical condition, the outbreak of T. beesoni tend to
occur in dry lowland area but not in wet highland area Table 2. In District of Situbondo, Province of East Java and District of Karangasem, Province of Bali, representing of dry
lowland area, the percentage of infestation of T. beesoni in both of two areas reached 100. In some plantation area, especially 1-2 years old gmelina plantation, the severity was 100 which
characterized by totally defoliation Figure 3. Meanwhile, our survey in wet highland area, such as Garut and Sukabumi, Province of West Java, there was no T. beesoni infestation
detected. The heavy infestation can make totally tree defoliation and could lead plant death if occurred in long dry season.
Table 2: T. beesoni infestation per surveyed area
District Geographical
condition Percentage of
infestation Severity
Cropping
Situbondo dry lowland
100 heavy-very heavy monoculture
Karangasem dry lowland
80-100 moderate-heavy
monoculture Garut
wet highland no infestation
- mixture
Sukabumi wet highland
no infestation -
mixture
Figure 3: Total defoliation of gmelina infested by T. beesoni in Situbondo Environmental factor, such as temperature and humidity, directly or indirectly influence insect
pest attack to plant. It can influence insect pest behavior or increase plant susceptibility. Severity of gmelina from T. beesoni infestation in dry lowland area was much higher compared
to T. beesoni infestation in wet highland area. It was maybe influenced by drought stress in dry condition that make gmelina become more susceptible to T. beesoni infestation. A study
conducted by Popov et al. 2006 on maize leaf weevil, sunn pest populations, wheat thrips, wheat stem sawflies, some aphids and cicads, ground flea beetle showed the favourable effect
of drought on these pests attack. The attack values were increased under conditions of dry and warm weather as compared with conditions of cold and wet weather.
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797
4. CONCLUSION
