Biological traits of Pseudapanteles dignus on Tuta absoluta larvae from irradiated parents: towards the integration of control methods.

CANDÁS LUCAS ; CAGNOTTI CHYNTIA ; SALAS GERVASSIO NG; VALLINA C; LÓPEZ SILVIA N.

Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 7th International Entomophagous Insects Conference; 2023

UBA-INTA-CEPAVE

Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the most devastating pests of tomato crops worldwide. Its control is mainly based on insecticide applications, which has led to the development of resistant populations to several products. Therefore, its replace by environmentally friendly control strategies such as the biological control (BC) and the sterile insect technique (SIT) is highly recommended. The larval endoparasitoid Pseudapanteles dignus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a promising candidate for use in biological control of T. absoluta. To evaluate the possible integration of this parasitoid with the SIT, we analyzed some biological characteristics of it when developing on moth larvae from irradiated parental males. A newly emerged mated P. dignus female was exposed to 30 T. absoluta larvae from untreated parents or from irradiated parental males (treatments) inside galleries in tomato leaves. Larvae were replaced daily during 7 days and kept to record parasitism, dead larvae and offspring sex ratio. The number of parasitized and dead larvae was analyzed using a GLM with a Poisson distribution and log link function and a χ2 test was used to compare the observed numbers of females with the expected under sex ratio equality. No differences were found neither in parasitism or in dead larvae between treatments, and sex ratio did not differ from 1:1 in any of them, proving that the techniques are compatible and can be used together to control T. absoluta.