IDENTIFICATION OF INSECT SPESIES ASSOCIATED WITH AVOCADO SEEDS ( Persea americana Mill)

,


INTRODUCTION
Avocado (Persea americana Mill) is a fruit plant with high nutritional value and is relatively economical.This plant can be found in various countries in the world, both tropical and subtropical.
Indonesia is a country rich in natural resources.One of the horticultural crops is avocado.The avocado plant has the Latin name Persea americana and is a woody tree plant that develops chronically (Indriani & Suminarsih, 1997).Indonesians often consume avocados because they contain several vitamins and minerals that are nutritious for the body.In general, this plant is suitable for cool and wet climates.This .plant does not tolerate low or high temperatures, low humidity during flowering and harsh winds at the time of fruit formation.In Indonesia, avocado plants (Persea americana Mill) grow at an altitude between 1-1,000 meters above sea level (Prawita, 2012, Tamalia et al., 2019) High-quality Avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds in large quantities, with little time and affordable prices, are the first step and a significant factor in supporting the success of avocado cultivation.
The need for avocado (Persea americana Mill) continues to increase yearly, with prices that continue to soar.However, this need is separate from increased production (Khasanah, 2011in Tairas & Mamahit, 2017).Efforts to increase the production of avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) are still often constrained by pests and diseases (Hidayati & Nurrohmah, 2017).Nurseries of various plants (polyculture) in nursery areas provide abundant feed for insects supported by the state of young seedlings (seedling stage), which is the preferred food for insects (Kartika et al., 2020;Mista, 2017).
Insect aggression that attacks avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) threatens avocado (Persea americana Mill) cultivation techniques.According to field observations, it is necessary to research identifying the types of insects associated with avocado (Persea americana Mill) plants and calculate the damage to avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill).One of the efforts for handling is knowing the types of insects that have the potential to become pests for seedlings so that future maintenance can be further improved.This is so that the avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) that will be distributed have guaranteed health and are safe to be planted in the planting area and produce quality fruit.
Insect identification is an introduction process to determine the types of insects more clearly and completely and can be justified scientifically.This research activity was carried out in the nursery of the Melati Women Farmer Group 2, Ranowulu District, Bitung City.

RESEARCH METHODS
This research was conducted in the nursery of the Melati Women Farmer Group 2, Ranowulu District, Bitung City.This research was conducted in January -March 2022.Observations were carried out in the morning (07.00-09.00WIB), afternoon (14.00-16.00WIB) and evening (18.00-19.00WIB).The materials used in this study were: Avocado plant seeds (Persea americana Mill), captured insects, cotton and 70% alcohol.The tools used in this study were: tweezers, killing bottles, documentation tools, stationery, notebooks, styrofoam, magnifying glass (loupe), insect determination books/keys and traps such as insect nets (Trap Insect).
This study used a survey method: direct observation (visual) of pests that attack avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill).This research is descriptive research with a survey method.Observation activities by direct observation of avocado plant seeds (Persea americana Mill).This observation was carried out on three lines of avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) with 30 seeds.In one lane, there were ten seeds of avocado plants (Persea americana Mill).This research was conducted in 3 stages, namely: 1).Catching insects associated with avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) were then identified using the insect determination book Kanisius, 1991. .Catching insects using insect nets and tweezers and catching them directly by hand, insect samples are then taken home for identification.2).Observing avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds to see symptoms due to insect pests.3).Recording the symptoms that appear on Avocado plant seeds (Persea americana Mill) with the types of insects found in the nursery.The percentage of damage and the level of damage to avocado (Persea americana Mill) seedlings for the category of plant assessment due to insect attack is seen in (Table 1).

Data analysis
The data taken in this study consisted of primary data and secondary data (Ginawan et al., 2019).The results of the identification and direct observation at the nursery for the women's jasmine farmer group 2, Ranowulu District, Bitung City, found 3 orders consisting of 4 insects, the insects obtained were insects associated with the Avocado plant (Persea americana Mill).Based on direct observations in the field, showed that the Wood Grasshopper / belalang kayu (Valanga nigricornis), which was found to be brownish black and brownish green, had coloured spots on the back femur and abdomen, 4-5 cm long body, had two (pairs) of facet eyes, Tarsis threesegmented, a pair of antennae, enlarged forelimb fermur, and short ovipositor.The wood locust (Valanga nigricornis) was found in the afternoon in the field.

Percentage of Insect Infected Seeds
The results of field observations that were observed on 3 observation lines for avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) obtained the level of damage and the percentage of seeds that were attacked by destructive insect pests.
. Based on observations, the number of seeds observed was 30 avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill), and 11 avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) were attacked.Table 3 shows that from the three observed paths, it is known that all paths are categorized as moderately damaged, with a range of damage between 60% to 20% with an average yield of 36.66%.
In each lane, the avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds that insects attacked had different proportions.Direct observations in the field showed that lane 1 had a higher insect attack rate than in lanes 2 and 3.This is because L lane 1 Avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds are closer to other plant seeds, and their conditions are not too exposed to sunlight.
The percentage yield of avocado (Persea americana Mill) seedlings attacked in the KWT nursery.
Melati 2 is included in the moderate category.This is due to the nursery staff's maintenance of seeds.
Maintenance is carried out weekly by spraying and weeding seedlings in each lane.This maintenance is done to keep the plant seeds' damage from worsening and prevent further damage.

Damage Level
From the results of observations of damage to avocado seedlings (Persea americana Mill) at the observation location, the level of damage was calculated for each (Table 4).The analysis shows that the level of damage for each observation line is between 42.06% to 22.85%, including the moderate damage category with average damage of 26.97%.The category of damage level can be seen in (Table 4. Avocado plant seeds (Persea americana Mill) aged 1-10 months are very susceptible to pest attacks, and sustainable food availability can affect the population of destructive pests.The damage that occurred was classified as moderate, but the damage was not significant and is expected to cause serious damage (Flint andBosch, 1990 in Koteng, 2019).Therefore, it is necessary to carry out preventive efforts with a silvicultural system, namely setting the distance between plant seeds, seed care, spraying and weeding seeds.

CONCLUSION
Based on observations at the Nursery of the Melati Women Farmer Group 2, Ranowulu District, Bitung City, the researchers found four types of insect pests associated with avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds, insects of the order Orthoptera, wood locust (Valanga nigricornis), and green steamed grasshopper (Atractomorpha crenulata).the order Homoptera of the White-headed Lice Insect (Planococcus citri) and the Hemiptera Order of Bapak Pucung (Dysdercus cingulatus).
The percentage of seeds attacked by insect pests in the nursery group of women farmers in jasmine 2 Ranowulu District, Bitung City, with a seedling age of 1-10 months, was 36.66%,including in the moderately damaged category.As for the level of damage to seeds attacked by destructive insect pests on Avocado (Persea americana Mill) plant seeds in the Nursery of the Melati 2 Women's Farmer Group, Ranowulu District, Bitung City, with seeds aged 1-10 months, 26.97% of the total seeds were 30 seedlings.
that have been observed and fall into the moderately damaged category.
a.Primary data is the damage data and the level of damage data on Avocado (Persea americana Mill) plants.b.Secondary data in this study is the main data in the form of insect pest catches obtained in this study.-Calculation of the percentage of plants affected by each path rate on each path N = Number of plants in each lane ni = Number of plants based on attack criteria .Vi = Criteria value for pest attack Z = Highest value of pest attack criteria -The damage rate of the entire observation path damage rate I = Damage level of each path N = Number of paths RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Types of insects associated with avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill)

.
The Wood Grasshopper / Belalang Kayu (Valanga nigricornis) is generally active in the morning and evening, based on field observations.The damage caused the leaves and shoots of the avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds to be perforated and damaged.The Wood Grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis) is often known as a dangerous herbivore.

Table 1
Criteria and categories for plant assessment due to insect pests based on the type of damage seen.
Healthy 1 Bag Part of the plant leaf perforated, curled, folded, Stem hollow and peeling, 1%-25% Light 2 The leaves are folded in folds, curled into holes, and Damage to the young shoots, bitten so that the leaves turn yellow, 25%-50% Currently 3 Plants were severely damaged.More than half of the plants were broken and bald.Root necks were cut off, nearly died.Plants died and were severely damaged by 50%-100%.Heavy Source : (Directorate of Plant Protection, 2000 in Riona, Suryantini & Herawatiningsih, 2019)

Table 2 .
Types of insects associated with avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) in the nursery of the Jasmine Farmer Women's Group 2, Ranowulu District, Bitung City.

Table 3 .
Percentage of Damage due to Insect Attacks associated with Avocado (Persea americana Mill) seedlings.

Table 4 .
Number of damaged Avocin Koteng, 2019)icana Mill) seedlings and the level of damage due to insect attack.Moderate damage to avocado (Persea americana Mill) seedlings was caused by seed management carried out by nursery officers, namely spraying plants, thinning the seeds and weeding the beds.This maintenance action is taken to prevent more serious damage and reduce the number of pests.(RoshetKoetal,2015inKoteng, 2019)In addition, it has been found that sustainable food availability has a strong impact on pest population size.Another thing that causes moderate damage to avocado seeds (Persea americana Mill) in nurseries is food competition.There are other plant seeds in the KWT jasmine two nurseries, Ranowulu District, Bitung City, which can distract insects so that insects not only eat avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds but also eat other plant seeds. .