Abstract

VARGAS, ELIZANGELA LEITE et al. SEARCHING AND PARASITISM OF Diatraea saccharalis (LEPIDOPTERA: CRAMBIDAE) BY Trichospilus diatraeae (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE). Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2013, vol.18, n.2, pp.259-264. ISSN 0120-548X.

The ability of Trichospilus diatraeae Cherian and Margabandhu, 1942 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to search and parasitize Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) pupae in sugarcane stalks was evaluated. To analyze the ability for search and parasitism were used stalks of sugarcane (20 cm) where it was introduced a pupa of D. saccharalis (T1); a pupa and a caterpillar (T2) or a pupa and fecal matter (T3). Each stalk was placed in a transparent plastic bottle with 21 females of T. diatraeae. These pupae were isolated, after 72 h, in glass tubes at 25 ± 2 °C, 70 ± 10 % relative humidity, 14:10 light/dark. The experiment was developed in an entirely casualized design with three treatments and 12 repetitions. Percentage of D. saccharalis pupa parasitized by T. diatraeae was 50.00 %, 83.33 % and 16.66 % in the T1, T2 and T3, respectively (X² = 3.896, p= 0.04). The presence of D. saccharalis caterpillars favored searching and parasitism of this host.

Keywords : biological control; host location; parasitoid.

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