HERBIVORES OF STRIGA-HERMONTHICA IN NORTHERN GHANA AND APPROACHES TO THEIR USE AS BIOCONTROL AGENTS

A survey of herbivores of Striga hermonthica Del. Benth., a root paras ite of cereal crops, was conducted in northern Ghana in 1992. Smicrony x umbrinus Hustache (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Junonia orithya L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) were found to attack S. hermonthica in all areas surveyed. Preliminary observations indicate that these two inse cts have a great potential to cause damage. In the Shinyanga region of Tanzania, Malawi and the middle-west of Madagascar, investigations re vealed that only J. orithya is common in all areas surveyed in contras t to the situation in northern Ghana.