A report on severe outbreak of gall inducing psyllid Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum Crawford on Alstonia scholaris in West Bengal, India

摘要

Alstonia scholaris is an elegant medium to tall evergreen shade tree with a dense crown. This popular ornamental tree is widely used in roadside avenues, landscapes and gardens in many tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. This tree is known by many names such as scholar tree, blackboard tree, Indian devil tree, milkwood pine, white cheesewood, chhatim and saptaparni etc. In India, it is traditionally used for preparing wooden planks to be used as blackboard in schools, for making wooden slates and for writing or tracing letters by school children. Its leaves are having medicinal values and is traditionally used as medicine for malaria fever, dysentery, jaundice, hepatitis and skin diseases (Chander, 2014).