Biology of Anagrus atomus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of the grape leafhopper Arboridia kermanshah (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

Abstract

Biology, morphology and oviposition behavior of Anagrus atomus (Linnaeus), an egg parasitoid of the grape leafhopper Arboridia kermanshah Dlabola in Isfahan, Iran, were investigated. Adults were smaller than those so far reported from other regions. Females continuously drummed on plant surfaces with their antennae to search for host eggs. Parasitoid eggs hatched 2-3 days after oviposition, and A. atomus had two larval instars. First instar larvae were sacciform and immobile. Second instar larvae appeared 4 days after oviposition and were very active, and doubled their body length. The prepupal and pupal stages lasted for 1 and 5-6 days, respectively. Adult emergence began 16 days after oviposition, and peaked on day 17.

Occurrence of different development time patterns induced by photoperiod in Anagrus atomus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of Empoasca vitis (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

“…Photos were also taken with a digital camera (Camedia, C‐3030 Zoom; Olympus, Japan) to document the pre‐imaginal stages. On the basis of previous studies (Ôtake, ; Sahad, ; Meyerdirk & Moratorio, ; Cronin & Strong, ; Moratorio & Chiappini, ; Virla, ; Hesami et al ., ) and previous observations (P. Zanolli and F. Pavan, unpublished observations), different phases of Anagrus development can be distinguished (Table ). Those visible inside the live leafhopper eggs (phases c–i) were annotated during the daily checks.…”

“…If these individuals had stayed in the field, they would have emerged within 20–21 days. Because the parasitoid is visible inside eggs only from the second‐instar larval stage (phase ‘c’), which occurs approximately 2 days after the parasitoid egg‐laying period (Sahad, ; Hesami et al ., ), it was only possible to calculate the DDs required to reach the subsequent development phases, when based on a sufficient number of individuals (Table ). The two parasitoids that died during development (i.e.…”

“…The ‘field‐laboratory study’ demonstrates that the delayed development of Anagrus spp . individuals is the result of a slowdown during pre‐imaginal development (and not during the embryonic development) because second‐instar larvae are always visible within the third day after parasitoid egg laying, according to normal development (Hesami et al ., ). Moreover, it is established that the delayed larvae of Anagrus also differ in appearance from the normal larvae.…”

Egg parasitoids of Arboridia apicalis (Nawa, 1913) (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), a leafhopper pest of grapevines in Japan, with description of a new species of Anagrus Haliday, 1833 (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae)

“…(Anagrus) atomus (L.) from the atomus species group of the same subgenus had been recorded in Khorasan Province of Iran from eggs of Arboridia kermanshah, along with an Oligosita sp. (Triapitsyn 1998), and later was studied by Hesami et al (2004Hesami et al ( , 2009. Indeed, Oligosita pallida had been previously reported as a very effective natural enemy of the same host leafhopper in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan in the absence of insecticide treatments (Mostaan and Akbarzadeh 1995).…”

Population dynamics and parasitism rate of leafhopper species (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in maize (Zea mays L.) crop

“…Mymarid egg parasitoid (Anagrus atomus) is the most important antagonist species of maize leafhoppers [9]. It is a cosmopolitan egg parasitoid of different leafhopper species observed under diverse environmental conditions [17,18,19]. The parasitism rate of A. atomus has been recorded between 50.2% and 93.7% in maize crop grown in southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey [9].…”