Losses in gum Arabic from Acacia Senegal inflicted by the Tree Locust Anacridium melanorhodon melanorhodon (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

This study was conducted in North Kordofan, Sudan during the season 2013\2014. The study aimed at assessing losses in gum productivity of Acacia senegal (g/tree) inflicted by the tree locust Anacridium melanorhodon melanorhodon. Experiments were conducted in A. senegal plantation, where big cages were installed on 12 trees with subsequent level of artificial infestation of: 0, 15, 30 and 60 locust/cage in three replicates. The caged trees were tapped and then gum picking was performed. The obtained gum from each tree was separately weighed. The same set of the experiment was replicated in another separate site. Results revealed that infestation by 60 locusts/ tree caused 70% and 81% loss reduction at the two sites, respectively. The respective loss inflicted by 30 locust/tree was 58% and 39%, respectively. The study concluded that the tree locust inflicted serious damage to A. senegal trees which leads to severe losses in gum productivity.