Plants for fitness enhancement of a coffee leaf miner parasitoid

Abstract

Conservative biological control aims to enhance the pest control through the conservation of natural enemies in the field, one of the strategies used is to introduce or manage plants that provide food for natural enemies. The effect of feeding resources on the fitness of a coffee leaf miner parasitoid Proacrias coffeae was assessed. To evaluate the effect of nectar on P. coffeae survival we used three flowering plants: Bidens pilosa, Galinsoga parviflora and Varronia curassavica; and we also tested the extrafloral nectar of a leguminous shrub Senna cernua. The parasitoids increase their survival when feeding on the floral nectar of V. curassavica and on the extrafloral nectar of S. cernua. No significant differences were found in their survival when feeding on B. pilosa and G. parviflora floral nectar. After promising results with the extrafloral nectar of S. cernua in the parasitoids survival, we evaluated its effect on the egg load of P. coffeae. The parasitoids increased their egg load when exposed to the extrafloral nectar and with increasing age. Our results show the potential of V. curassavica and S. cernua for providing nutritional resources to the parasitoid P. coffeae and therefore enhance their fitness by an increment of their survival when they were confine with the resource. In terms of conservative biological control, that means that introducing in the coffee agroecosystem feeding resources for P. coffeae can increase their success as biocontrol agents, not just by enhancing their survival but also their reproductive potential. Keywords: Conservative biological control. Proacrias coffeae. Nectar. Plant provided food.