First record of yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flava (Homoptera: Aphididae), in the South African sugarcane industry.

During 2013, the yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flava (Homoptera: Aphididae), was recorded in the South African sugarcane industry for the first time. Initially discovered at Mount Edgecombe in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, it was subsequently detected across the entire sugarcane industry and more recently in Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Morphological and molecular taxonomic techniques were employed to confirm its identity. Native to North America, it currently has a wide geographical distribution across Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands. It was first reported on sugarcane in Africa in Morocco in 2006. In the Americas, sugarcane, sorghum (commercial and wild species), rice, maize, cereal crops, several species of lawn and pasture grasses, and Carex and Cyperus have been recorded as hosts. It has been collected from sugarcane, Sorgum bicolor, Tragus berteronianus, Echinochloa colona, Digitaria ciliaris, D. ternata and D. citratus in South Africa; however, additional hosts are expected as it becomes more established. Sipha flava (2 mm) are yellow with dusky coloured spots, short stiff hairs and reduced cornicles. All stages feed in dense colonies on the lower leaf surface along the midrib, causing yellowing and reddening. In South Africa natural enemies such as ladybird beetles, earwigs, hover flies, predaceous ants and spiders prey on S. flava. The effect on final sugarcane yield due to S. flava infestations in South Africa remains to be determined. Management tactics have yet to be developed and, should natural enemies and weather fail to keep populations in check, then resistant/tolerant varieties and insecticides could be considered.