NaturalizedDolichogenidea gelechiidivorisMarsh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) complement the resident parasitoid complex ofTuta absoluta(Meyrick) (Lepidopera:Gelechiidae) in Spain

Abstract

Our study aimed to assess the contribution of natural parasitism due to Necremnus tutae Ribes & Bernardo (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to the biological control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidopera:Gelechiidae) in commercial plots where an IPM program based on the use of predatory mirid bugs was implemented. During the samplings, the presence of another parasitoid was detected and, therefore, a second part of our study intended to identify this species and to evaluate the importance of its natural populations in the biological control of the pest. Leaflets with T. absoluta galleries were collected during 2017-2020 from commercial tomato plots in the horticultural production area of Catalonia (Northeast Spain), including greenhouses, open fields, and roof covered tunnels that lack side walls. In the laboratory, T. absoluta larvae were classified as ectoparasitized, alive, or dead. Reared parasitoids from ectoparasitized larvae were mostly morphologically identified as Necremnus sp. with parasitism rates that peaked in summer months with values between 9 and 15%. Some of these ectoparasitized larvae also yielded another parasitoid identified as Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris Marsh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) by both morphological and molecular-DNA barcoding methods. In 2020, parasitism rates due to D. gelechiidivoris that increased with season up to 22%. Our work reports for the first time in Europe the presence of the neotropical species D. gelechiidivoris adding this biocontrol agent to the resident parasitoid complex of T. absoluta in Spain.

First record in Africa of the parasitoid Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) from tomato fields in Algeria

“…Thus, our finding of the parasitoid wasp species in open tomato fields and greenhouses in Algeria is the first report of individuals of this species naturally occurring in Africa. Its presence is unlikely to be related to the efforts being undertaken in Kenya; rather, it is more likely that the species arrived in northern Africa from Spain, where it had been recently found (Denis et al 2021). In any case, the introduction seems to be accidental, probably following its host (T. absoluta), as it is supposed to have been the case in Spain.…”

“…Specimens were released in the USA for the control of Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) (Marsh 1975) and the species has also been considered as a biocontrol agent of Keiferia lycopersicella (Walshingham, 1897) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) (Marsh 1975;Palacios & Cisneros 1995;Mujica & Kroschel 2013). Recently, D. gelechiidivoris has been reported as parasitoid of T. absoluta in Spain (Denis et al 2021), where the wasp was considered as unintentionally introduced from the Neotropics along with the lepidopteran pest.…”

Can the Combined Use of the Mirid Predator Nesidiocoris tenuis and a Braconid Larval Endoparasitoid Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris Improve the Biological Control of Tuta absoluta?

“…Apanteles gelechiidivoris) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a koinobiont solitary larval endoparasitoid of a few related gelechiid species such as T. absoluta, Keiferia lycopersicella (Walshingham), and Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) [18,29]. Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris is native to Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Spain [30,31]. This parasitoid wasp was imported into Africa in 2017 by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya.…”