ARS | Publication request: Field assessment of three introduced parasitoids of Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Submitted to: National Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: July 19, 2007
Publication Date: December 10, 2007
Citation: Amarasekare, K.G., Mannion, C.M., Epsky, N.D. 2007. Field assessment of three introduced parasitoids of Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). National Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Technical Abstract: Abstract: Field assessment of the ability of three introduced parasitoids (Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff, Anagyrus loecki Noyes, and Pseudleptomastix mexicana Noyes and Schauff) to control Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink was investigated in 2005 and 2006 in three locations in Homestead, Florida. In each location, the number of mealybugs and natural enemies were monitored in closed, open, and nocage environments on 10 hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.) plants. Mealybug populations were initially established on three branches of each hibiscus plant inside closedsleeve-cages. The treatments (closedsleeve-cage, opensleeve-cage, and nocage) were applied to three established mealybug populations on each hibiscus plant. After 72 h, the number of P. marginatus collected in the opensleeve-cage was higher than in the nocage treatment but both were lower than the number of P. marginatus in the closedsleeve-cage. There was no activity of natural enemies in the closedsleeve-cage treatment. The mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant) larvae and adults, ants, and spiders were higher in the nocage treatment than in the opensleeve-cage. A. papayae had a higher percent parasitism than that of A. loecki in both the opensleeve-cage and the nocage treatments and the percent parasitism was highest for A. papayae in the opensleeve-cage. There was no P. mexicana activity in either of the treatments. C. montrouzieri may have contributed to the overall low parasitism. The lower parasitism by A. loecki may be due to its multiple host preference. Out of the three parasitoid species, parasitism by A. papayae caused the most mortality of P. marginatus.