Performance of Pseudapanteles dignus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a natural enemy of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in eggplant

SALAS GERVASSIO, N.G.; LUNA, M.G.; D´AURO´, F.; SÁNCHEZ, N.E.

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2017 p. 1 - 15

0022-0493

The interaction between the endoparasitoid Pseudapanteles dignus(Muesebeck) and the South American tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crops has been well studied,demonstrating that this enemy exhibits some desirable ecological traits as aneffective biological control agent of the pest. With the aim of enhancing the use of P. dignus in other solanaceous crops, laboratory experiments were carried out to assess some life history traits of the endoparasitoid when parasitizing T. absoluta larvae fed on eggplant, Solanum melongena (L.). Colonies of host andparasitoid species were established from insects collected in the surroundings of La Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and a specific protocol to rear T. absoluta fed with eggplant was developed. Rearings and experiments were conducted under controlled environmental conditions. P. dignus developmental times of immature stages were slower (~ 5d) on S. melongena than on S. lycopersicum. The female did not exhibit a pre-reproductive period, and its oviposition period lasted longer (~ 4d) than that determined in tomato plants. Adult longevity and fecundity, measured as the mean number of cocoons formed throughout female´s life, was similar on both solanaceous plants. Functional response of P. dignus on eggplant was density-independent of the host density offered, as in tomato plant. The results suggest that P. dignus behaves similarly as a natural enemy of T. absoluta in S. lycopersicum and S. melongena, showing the potential to employ it jointly in both crops through augmentative or conservation biological control strategies.