First record of the predatory stink bug Podisus sagitta (Hemiptera: Asopinae) in Brazil

Abstract

Predatory stink bugs (Asopinae) are found in a wide range of natural and agricultural habitats and are important biological control agents (Pires et al., 2015;Pereira et al., 2017). Podisus spp. is the most diverse genus in Asopinae, currently with 32 species distributed in the Neotropical and Nearctic regions. Several Podisus species have been recorded in the Americas, mainly Podisus maculiventris (Say, 1831) in North America, P. nigrispinus (Dallas, 1851), P. sagitta (Fabricius, 1794) and P. distinctus (Stål, 1860) in Central and South America (Brugnera et al., 2020).Podisus sagitta has been reported occasionally in the literature. Its original locality is Central America, occurring from the southern United States to South America. This species was more studied in Europe -Belgium, between the 80s and 90s of the 20th century by Clercq and Degheele (1990), when a rearing of P. sagitta was established in the laboratory in 1982, using insects originating from Surinam. However, these same authors later reported that a misidentification occurred and that the species studied really treated P. nigrispinus and not P. sagitta (Clercq and Degheele, 1995).The objective was to record, for the first time, the natural occurrence of P. sagitta in Brazil and preliminary data of its biology in the laboratory.The predator was found associated with outbreaks of defoliating Lepidoptera in eucalyptus plantations in Itamarandiba, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (17° 51' S, 42° 51' W, at an elevation of 910 masl). The occurrence of the P. sagitta was verified in November 2015, during monitoring in eucalyptus plantations, preying on caterpillars of Thyrinteina arnobia Stoll, 1782 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Approximately, 30 predator nymphs from the third to fifth stages were collected and taken in 1000 mL plastic pots to the Laboratório de Controle Biológico de Insetos (LCBI) of the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM) in Diamantina, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Insects were maintained at 25 ± 1 °C, 70 ± 10% relative humidity, and 12-hours photophase. The nymphs were fed with pupae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and distilled water until the emergence of adults.

Ideal period for mating females of the predator Podisus fuscescens (Dallas, 1851) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

“…However, phytophagous species of this order are pests of wild and cultivated plants (Soares et al 2022). Podisus is the most diverse genus in the Pentatomidae, with species distributed in the Neotropical and Nearctic regions (Brugnera et al 2020;Oliveira-Júnior et al 2021;Roell 2021).…”