The harmful entomophauna was investigated in detail in the state of Puebla
(Mexico). This state is the leader in growing amaranth, annually produces 2.5 thousand
tons of grain, which is over 50 % of the total national production of amaranth.
In 2008, 22 species of phytophagous were recorded on cultivated crops. Seven of
them were of economic importance: foliage pests – Sphenarium purpurascens
Charpentier, 1845. (Pyrgomorphidae), Epicauta cinerea (Förster, 1771) (Meloidae),
Spodoptera exigua (Hübner, 1808) (Noctuidae), Pholisora catullus (Fabricius, 1793)
(Hesperiidae), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois, 1818) (Miridae), Herpetogramma
bipunctalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Pyralidae); stalk pests – Amauromyza abnormalis
(Malloch, 1913) (Agromyzidae) and root pests – Phyllophaga ilhuicaminai Morón,
1998 (Melolonthidae) [23].
According to Agustin Aragon Garcia et all (2011) [5], 34 phytophagous insect
species were registered in amaranth crops in the semi-arid area of Mixtec in Puebla
state, most of them were polyphagous. The most harmful pests inside the stalks were
weevil Hypolixus truncatulus (Fabricius & J.C., 1798) and amaranth borer
Amauromyza abnormalis; The leaves were mainly damaged by noctuid moths –
Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) and skipper butterflies – Pholisora catullus (Fabricius).
The roots were damaged by scarabaeid beetles, of which four Phyllophaga species
were the most numerous. The grain of amaranth were gathered by ants Atta mexicana
(Smith), Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Smith) and Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius).
Research of Mexican scientists have shown, that low-growth varieties with shorter
production cycles are infested by stalk pests significantly less, than tall varieties with
longer cycle. Conclusion is also interesting, that stalk infestation by weevils and flies
larvae and their feeding galleries did not affect the yield of grain and biomass [24]. At
the same time, other Mexican scientists show [5], that in the absence of protective
measures, the total crop losses from all phytophages were 65.5 %, losses from foliage
pests – 39.1 %, from root pests – 44.2 %.
Beginning in the late 1920s, and to the present, phytophages of amaranth studying
does not stop in America. In addition to the traditional areas of amaranth cultivation, it
began to grow in South America.
According to the Brazilian researchers [18] 26 pest species were revealed in
different countries of American continent. The entomofauna of the cultural amaranth
was formed both at the expense of polyphagous species and insects trophically
associated with wild amaranth species.
In Brazil, the amaranth is recently grown as a commercial crop and occupies
relatively small areas.
In the early 2000s, any economically significant pests were found on amaranth
crops, but recent studies of Amaranthus cruentus commercial crops revealed a
dangerous intra-stalk pest Herpetogramma bipunctalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera:
Crambidae) [18]. This polyphagous species from subfamily Pyraustinae, began to
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