Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) is the main maize pest in America and was recently detected as an invasive pest in some countries in Asia and Africa. Among its natural enemies presented in Mexico, Trichogramma pretiosum Riley is the only egg parasitoid used in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs regardless of its effectiveness. A search for natural enemies of S. frugiperda was then carried out to determine whether this parasitoid has been established, and to detect native egg parasitoids or predators associated with this pest. The sentinel technique (egg masses) was used, and then placed in maize and sorghum fields in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Trichogramma atopovirilia Oatman and Platner, an egg parasitoid, and Chelonus insularis Cresson egg-larva parasitoid were recovered from field surveys. Among the natural enemies that preyed on eggs of S. frugiperda, we found mites of the genus Balaustium, and Dermaptera of the genus Doru, both species in great abundance. Laboratory tests were performed to compare the potential parasitism of T. atopovirilia against T. pretiosum. T. atopovirilia obtained 70.14% parasitism while T. pretiosum, 29.23%. In field cages, three doses of the parasitoids were tested. Total parasitism did not exceed 8% in any of the two species, but T. atopovirilia parasitized a greater number of hosts using two and three parasitoids per pest egg. Then, the use of Trichogramma species needs to be reevaluated in biological control programs against S. frugiperda.
Egg parasitoids are the most used natural enemies in biological control of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), a pest of gramineous plants native to the Americas that recently invaded Africa and some countries of Asia. Although Trichogramma pretiosum (Riley) is one of the main species used against this pest, there are other species with equal or greater parasitism potential. The objective of this work was to compare, in laboratory and in field cages, the parasitism of Telenomus remus Nixon, Trichogramma atopovirilia (Oatman and Platner), and T. pretiosum on S. frugiperda eggs. Telenomus remus and T. atopovirilia reached the highest percentages of parasitism in laboratory (>70%) which did not differ statistically from each other. Trichogramma pretiosum had the lowest percentage of parasitism (29%) of the three. In the field cage assays, Te. remus parasitized 30% of the S. frugiperda egg masses, and T. pretiosum parasitized about 7.5% of the egg masses. These results underscore the importance of adequate selection of egg parasitoids for their use in biological control programs by augmentation against S. frugiperda.
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