Bio-ecological studies on Bufonacris claraziana (Acridoidea: Tristiridae) and susceptibility to the biocontrol agents Paranosema locustae and Beauveria bassiana

MARIOTTINI YANINA

METALEPTEA

Orthopterists' Society

Año: 2018

2372-2479

The Tristiridae family is endemic to South America. Of the nine species present in Argentina only is Bufonacris claraziana is considered a pest of forage. Endemic to Patagonia B. claraziana is distributed from the South of Neuquén and Río Negro provinces to the South of Santa Cruz province. It is an apterous species, however despite this condition both nymphs and adults make considerable displacements. Bufonacris claraziana is polyphagous, consuming practically any plant material that encounters, from the tender grasses of the "mallines" where hatchings take place to the harder grasses of the arid Patagonian steppe (Stipa, Festuca) and even sometimes the lower branches of shrubs (Berberis, Senecio). Since the 1990s, B. claraziana outbreaks in different areas of Patagonia are a recurrent phenomenon, the last occurred during November of 2016 in different localities in the western of Chubut and Santa Cruz provinces. In Argentina, Chemical insecticides are still the only available option for grasshopper control in the country, but their use is of significant environmental concern. The microsporidium Paranosema locustae (Canning), and the fungal entomophatogen Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin, are two of the main alternative control used with grasshoppers. In this work the results obtained on the first ecological and biological studies carried out with Bufonacris claraziana are presented.