Iqbal and Saeed J. Anim. Plant Sci. 22(3):2012 644 ISOLATION OF MANGO QUICK DECLINE FUNGI FROM MANGO BARK BEETLE, HYPOCRYPHALUS MANGIFERAE S. (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE) N. Iqbal and S. Saeed Department of Entomology, University College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan Corresponding author email: entobzu@gmail.com ABSTRACT The studies were carried out to isolate the mango quick decline fungi from mango bark beetle, Hypocryphalus mangiferae S. collected from mango orchards of Nawab pur, Lutfabad and Faiz pur bhatian, Multan, Pakistan. Different life stages of H. mangiferae were collected from diseased mango trees and fungal isolations were carried out from each stage as well as from different body parts (head, thorax and abdomen) of adult. Five types of fungi i.e. Ceratocystis fimbriata, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp. and Aspergillus sp. were frequently isolated from life stages and body parts of H. mangiferae. However, their isolation frequency varied in different life stages and body parts. The consistent isolation of these fungi suggests their close association with H. mangiferae but the exact symbiotic relation between them need to be investigated. Key words: Hypocryphalus mangiferae, life stages, isolation frequency, Ceratocystis fimbriata, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium sp. INTRODUCTION Mango, Mangifera indica L. is the main fruit of tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In Pakistan, mango is cultivated on an area of 167.5 thousand hectares with 1,732 thousand tons average production (Balal et al. 2011). However, its production is decreasing due to various factors mainly insect pests and diseases (Ploetz et al. 1996; Talpur and Khuhro 2003). Presently, mango industry is facing a serious threat of mango quick decline (MQD) resulting in huge losses all over the world. It has been reported from various districts of Pakistan with incidence of 10-28% in Punjab (Asif et al. 2011). Thousands of mango trees in Pakistan have been affected by this destructive disease which has lowered the mango production (Jiskani 2006). The tree infected with MQD shows the symptoms of gummosis, canker formation, bark splitting, drying of twigs, branches and curling of leaves (Masood et al. 2010). Al Adawi et al. (2006) and Al-Subhi et al. (2006) reported the association of three fungal pathogens, Ceratocystis fimbriata, C. omanensis, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae, with the MQD in Oman. Van Wyk et al. (2007) suggested Ceratocystis manginecans as the causal organism of MQD in Oman and Pakistan. Ceratocystis manginecans is not a new species and is closely related to C. fimbriata (VanWyk et al. 2007). Kazmi et al. (2005) reported the association of Fusarium sp. in addition to above three fungal pathogens with MQD. Hypocryphalus mangiferae has been found to be consistently associated with MQD infected trees and considered as the vector of this disease (Al Adawi et al. 2006; Saeed and Masood 2008; Masood et al. 2009 Masood et al. 2010). This beetle usually prefers weakened and stressed trees (Wood 1982; Masood et al. 2010). The adults attack the mango trees and penetrate the trunk, limbs and branches. After making holes in the bark, the adult females make irregular galleries and lay about 42.3+9.90 eggs in 4.2±1.41 batches. H. mangiferae overwinter as adult under the bark from late November to late February. It resumes activity in January but maximum activity has been found during May-August (Masood et al. 2009) which is critical period for the dissemination of MQD in mango orchards. As H. mangiferae has been proved previously as a vector of MQD in mango orchards (Saeed and Masood 2009) and various fungi have been isolated only from the adult stage of the H. mangiferae. However, in the present experiment we were interested to study different life stages of H. mangiferae with respect to fungi isolations. These measures allowed us to answer the following questions: (a) Do MQD causing fungi found in different life stages of H. mangiferae? (b) What are the relative proportions or frequencies of MQD fungi in different life stages and body parts of adult H. mangiferae? MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of samples: The experiments were conducted in April-July 2008. Life stages of H. mangiferae and sapwood samples were collected from three severely infested orchards of Nawab pur, Lutfabad and Faiz pur bhatian, Multan, Pakistan. For this, twelve bark beetle infested logs (20×25cm) were taken from each orchard with surface sterilized axe and transported to mango laboratory, University College of Agriculture, Bahauddin The Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences, 22(3): 2012, Page: 644-648 ISSN: 1018-7081