Parasitism of Automeris liberia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) by tachinids (Diptera: Tachinidae) in oil palm in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Automeris liberia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) caterpillars are important defoliators of the African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) in Central and South America. The family Tachinidae (Diptera) comprises flies that are parasitoids of many insect pests, mainly from the order Lepidoptera. However, host records for tachinids are still relatively scarce. In the present work, we report the occurrence of Belvosia sp. aff. williamsi (Diptera: Tachinidae: Exoristinae: Goniini) and Leptostylum oligothrix (Diptera: Tachinidae: Exoristinae: Blondeliini) parasitizing caterpillars of A. liberia in E. guineensis in the municipality of Tailândia, state of Pará, Brazil. This is the first record of the parasitism of A. liberia by Leptostylum in Brazil, as well as by Belvosia in the world.