Piezodorus guildinii ( Westwood) 435
working in alfalfa, and Panizzi and Smith (1977), working in soybean, suggested that egg and nymphal
development times generally were similar to those reported for other pentatomids (e.g., McPherson
1971, 1974; Owusu-Manu 1974; Munyaneza and McPherson 1994; Bharathimeena and Sudharma 2008;
Parveen et al. 2015).
Panizzi et al. (2002) compared nymphal and adult performance between the uncultivated weed host
lanceleaf crotalaria and soybean and found that the weed was more suitable for nymphal development,
but both plants were equally suitable for adult reproduction. Zerbino et al. (2016) compared feeding
performance of Piezodorus guildinii on soybean, alfalfa, bird’s-foot trefoil, and red clover, the main
cultivated host plants in Uruguay. Fitness was best when fed immature seeds of alfalfa and soybean and
lowest on immature pods and seeds of bird’s-foot trefoil and red clover, respectively. Saluso et al. (2010)
reported that the life cycle of P. guildinii fed alfalfa was longer and adults weighed less than those fed
soybean.
Piezodorus guildinii also feeds on several pasture legumes in parts of South America. In Argentina,
producers of seed alfalfa in the Saldo River area have reported that this insect can completely destroy
this crop (Fraga and Ochoa 1972). Fraga and Ochoa (1972) referred to earlier reports by Ochoa (1969)
and Quintanilla et al. (1967–1968) that P. guildinii is a pest of alfalfa. Finally, in Argentina, P. guildi-
nii and Nezara viridula together can destroy up to 90% of a seed alfalfa crop (Moschetti et al. 2007).
In Uruguay, P. guildinii is a pest of other leguminous forage crops such as bird’s-foot trefoil, red clo-
ver, and white clover, Trifolium repens L. (Alzugaray and Ribeiro 2000, Zerbino and Alzugaray 2010,
Ribeiro et al. 2009, Zerbino et al. 2015).
In Puerto Rico, Piezodorus guildinii has been recorded on cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. (Wolcott
1941), but this is an incidental record because it is not considered a pest of cotton.
TABLE 8.1 (CONTINUED)
Plants Associated with Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood) in the Americas^1
Scientific Name Type of Association Location Reference
Schizachyrium condensatum (Kunth)
Nees
Incidental Argentina Cánepa et al. 2015Triticum aestivum L. Incidental Brazil Cividanes et al. 1987
Rosaceae
Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne Incidental Brazil Link and Grazia 1987
Rubus spp. Incidental Brazil Pasini and Lúcio 2014
Rubiaceae
Coffea arabica L. Incidental Brazil Silva et al. 1968
Sapindaceae
Serjania fuscifolia Radlkofer Incidental Brazil Ferreira and Panizzi 1982
Solanaceae
Capsicum spp. Incidental Central America Saunders et al. 1983
Incidental Puerto Rico Wolcott 1936
Solanum mauritianum Scopoli Incidental Brazil Garlet et al. 2010
Violaceae
Anchietea pyrifolia A. Saint-Hilaire
(syn. Anchietea salutaris A.
Saint-Hilaire)
Incidental Brazil Ferreira and Panizzi 1982Hybanthus atropurpureus (A.
Saint-Hilaire) Taubert
Incidental Brazil Ferreira and Panizzi 1982(^1) Reproductive hosts are plants on which bugs complete development. Incidental indicates a collection or observation
on a plant that probably does not support development.
(^2) Current family name (original name reported in parentheses).