Establecimiento y distribución de controladores biológicos de la mosca blanca en Puerto Rico

Abstract

The establishment and distribution of exotic biological control agents for the silverleaf whitefly in Puerto Rico was evaluated. Five hundred thirty parasitoids were recovered from 99 sample sites. Encarsia spp. represented over 90% of the total samples profiled, whereas Eretmocerus spp. represented only 9.5%. Eretmocerus hayati, from Pakistan, represented 56% of the total of that genus, followed by Er. mundus from Spain (38%). An Encarsia sophia species from Pakistan was the most abundant, representing 29.6% of the total number of specimens from that group and 26.8% of the total number of specimens recovered during the study. Five unidentified, and possibly undescribed, species from Puerto Rico were detected during the study. Two of the local species represent about 23% of the total number of specimens collected.