Egg parasitoids of the cassava hornworm (Erinnyis spp.) associated to cassava in the Pará State, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence and identify the egg-parasitoid species of the cassava hornworm (Erinnyis spp.) in cassava plants (Manihot esculenta Crantz - Euphorbiaceae), facilitating their usage in the biological control as a management strategy in the Pará State. During February to December of 2016, cassava hornworm eggs were collected in the Cassava Germplasm Bank area of the Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, located at the city of Belém, State of Pará. In the laboratory, eggs were separated in viable and parasitized and were daily observed until the hatching of the caterpillars and emergence of the parasitoids. The caterpillars were reared until reaching the adult stage and the sex determined at the pupae stage. A total of 482 eggs were collected, with a higher occurrence at March, and 244 caterpillars were obtained with sex ratio of 0.52 with 191 specimens reaching adult stage. Among these adults, 95.81% were Erinnyis ello (Linnaeus) and 4.19% Erinnyis alope (Drury). A total of 1,087 parasitoids were obtained from 131 eggs and belong to four Hymenoptera families: Platygastridae (Telenomus dilophonotae Cameron), Eulophidae (Chrysonotomyia sp. aff. serjaniae), Trichogrammatidae (Trichogramma marandobai Brun, Moraes & Soares) and Encyrtidae (Ooencyrtus sp.). The Erinnyis spp. eggs were mostly parasitized by T. dilophonotae, which was classified along with T. marandobai as constant. The occurrence of these natural enemies highlights the potential for natural biological control against Erinnyis spp.

First record of Telenomus dilophonotae (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), parasitizing eggs of Erinnyis ello (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) in western Paraná, Brazil, with molecular characterization and records of occurrences

“…2) and claval formula (A11-A7/1,2,2,2); T1 with 1 pair of sublateral setae; genitalia of the male with four small teeth per digitus, usually weakly melanized. According to Noronha et al (2020), the male antennae has eleven antennomeres and a preocellar pit is present.…”

“…Generic identi cation was performed following Masner (1976), and at the species level according to Johnson (1990) and Noronha et al (2020). Color images were taken with a Leica MC 190HD digital camera attached to the Leica stereomicroscope M205A, and the specimens illuminated with a Leica LED5000 HDI high-light diffused dome (Kerr et al 2008).…”

“…In Brazil, the occurrence of Telenomus has been formally registered in several states, with twenty species recorded (Wengrat 2023). These parasitoid wasps parasitize mainly eggs of Pentatomidae (Corrêa-Ferreira and Moscardi 1995) and lepidopteran pests of the families Noctuidae (Polaszek an Foerster 1997; Wengrat et al 2021) and Sphingidae (Johnson 1990; Noronha et al 2020) from several cultures. Around the world, three species of Telenomus parasitizing eggs of Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) have been recorded: Telenomus connectans Ashmead, 1895, recorded from the USA, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Costa Rica and Brazil; Telenomus monilicornis Ashmead, 1894, from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica; and Telenomus dilophonotae Cameron, 1913, in Costa Rica, Guyana, Guadeloupe and Brazil (Johnson 1990) and Colombia (Johnson and various contributors: Triplehorn Insect Collection, Ohio State University, USA, 2017).…”

“…- (Abreu and Sgrillo 1989). Noronha et al (2020) reported the presence of T. dilophonotae from the state of Pará in cassava crops parasitizing E. ello eggs. This is the most recent occurrence record for this species.…”

Biology of Trichogramma marandobai and T. manicobai (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in eggs of Erinnyis ello (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

“…In addition, knowledge about alternative rearing hosts is limited for T. marandobai and T. manicobai (Milanez et al, 2009). The few field surveys conducted in Brazil (Oliveira et al, 2010;Souza et al, 2016;Noronha et al, 2020) indicate that T. marandobai is the predominant species and has a high capacity for parasitism.…”