Effect of Infestation with Scale Insect on Date Palm Leaves in Egypt

The present investigation was carried out to clarify the negative effects of the infestation with scale insect on the contents of mineral elements, morphological and chemical characters of certain varieties leaflets of date palm trees at Esna district, Luxor Governorate, Egypt. The obtained results could be summarized as the follows: Results concluded that the uninfested date palm leaflets had significantly higher was found in all measured mineral element contents (macro- and micro-), fresh weight, weight after one hour of drying, dry weight, moisture content, epicuticular wax, leaflet area, specific leaflet area and photosynthetic pigments and The levels of total soluble carbohydrates, crude proteins and food quality index than those the infested ones for the all tested varieties. In addition, the element contents of K, Ca and Mg and the increase in concentrations of soluble condensed tannins and phenols in leaflet may play a role in the defense mechanism of date palm leaflets against pest infestation. Generally, the loss in the measured parameters was a summation of many factors including level, time of infestation, variety, mineral elements, essential nutrients and inhibitors.

Researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection Research, Station of Agricultural Research El-Matanaa, Scale insects and Mealybugs Research Department. This work was a part of Ph.D. requirements of the first author in Agricultural Science (Economic Entomology) Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Egypt.