Trophic interactions between Tupiocoris cucurbitaceus and Campiloneuropsis cincticornis (Hemiptera: Miridae), two potential neotropical biocontrol agents of horticultural pests

PEÑALBA JN; ROCCA M.; LUNA MG; SALAS GERVASSIO N

Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires

Congreso; 7th The international entomophagous insects conference; 2023

The mirids Tupiocoris cucurbitaceus and Campyloneuropsis cincticornis are abundant entomophagous bugs in organic orchards in NE Buenos Aires province (Argentina). While T. cucurbitaceus has been recently developed as a commercial biocontrol agent in Argentina and Uruguay, against the South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), another mirid, C. cincticornis, is also being evaluated for this purpose since it is capable of feeding on T. absoluta eggs and larvae. One aspect to consider for the use of these species as biocontrol agents of T. absoluta is to understand whether they could engage in intraguild predation (IGP) or cannibalistic (CANN) interactions and thus affect their populations and, consequently, their control success. We tested these interactions, in absence of extraguild prey, and the treatments were: a) two heterospecific adult females, b) two heterospecific 4th instar nymphs, c) one adult female + one 4th instar nymph of each species, d) two conspecific adult females e) two conspecific 4th instar nymphs, and f) one adult female + one 4th instar nymph of the same species. IGP was not recorded in any of the treatments tested, whereas for the CANN trials, C. cincticornis females were only very rarely observed consuming onspecific nymphs. These preliminary results suggest that both predators could be used together to control T. absoluta and other horticultural pests in this region.