Prey consumption by larval and adult stages of the entomophagous ladybird Serangium parcesetosum Sicard (Col., Coccinellidae) of the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hom., Aleyrodidae), at two different temperatures

Abstract

Prey consumption by larval and adult stages of the entomophagous ladybird Serangium parcesetosum Sicard (Col., Coccinellidae) of the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hom., Aleyrodidae), at two different temperatures Abstract The entomophagous ladybird, Serangium parcesetosum Sicard (Col., Coccinellidae) appears to be a promising predator against the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hom., Aleyrodidae). Knowledge about its consumption of B. tabaci is incomplete. The present study was undertaken to determine the potential use of this predator in biological control programs. The daily and total prey consumption of S. parcesetosum through the entire development of the larval instars as well as during three different periods of longevity of adult females and males feeding on nymphs or puparia of B. tabaci as prey was examined. In addition, the daily prey consumption of the adult females where the number of B. tabaci puparia was altered was studied at two different temperatures in the laboratory. The results showed that the mean daily prey consumption of nymphs or puparia of B. tabaci by larval instars of S. parcesetosum increased gradually as development progressed at both temperatures. Significant differences were found in the mean total prey consumption among the different predatory larval instars. In total, S. parcesetosum consumed during its entire larval development significantly more nymphs than puparia; at 18°C it consumed a mean of 1,566.1 ($) and 1,443.9 (#) nymphs or 280.0 ($) and 250.8 (#) puparia, while at 30°C, it consumed a mean of 1,119.1 ($) and 979.9 (#) nymphs or 188.2 ($) and 171.6 (#) puparia. Over the three studied periods of the adult stage of S. parcesetosum, the mean daily prey consumption by the females and males fluctuated irregularly at both temperatures. At 18°C and 30°C, both females and males consumed significantly more nymphs than puparia. No significant differences were found between females and males with respect to consumption of nymphs, although significant differences were found between the sexes with respect to consumption of puparia, but at 18°C only. The mean total prey consumption over the three studied adult stages

Evaluation of Serangium parcesetosum (Col.: Coccinellidae) for biological control of Bemisia tabaci under greenhouse conditions

“…The woolly whiteXy, Aleurothrixus Xoccosus Maskell was also found to be a suitable prey for the predator's development (Argov 1994;Abboud and Ahmad 1998). In Germany, S. parcesetosum has demonstrated a potential for the biological control of B. tabaci in the laboratory (Al-Zyoud and Sengonca 2004b;Al-Zyoud et al 2005b, c, d;Sengonca et al 2004Sengonca et al , 2005 as well as the greenhouse whiteXy, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Al-Zyoud et al 2005a).…”

“…Moreover, S. parcesetosum could avoid parasitized B. tabaci by Encarsia formosa Gahan (Hym., Aphelinidae) and fed instead on unparasitized ones (Al-Zyoud and Sengonca 2004b). Both larvae and adults of S. parcesetosum could feed on all of the B. tabaci developmental stages and they were voracious feeders, capable for consuming a great number of the cotton whiteXy immature stages in a short period (Kapadia and Puri 1992;Ahmad and Abboud 2001;Sengonca et al 2005). S. parcesetosum larval instars consumed approximately 1440 nymphs or 250 puparia of B. tabaci at 18°C, and 970 nymphs or 170 puparia at 30°C (Sengonca et al 2005).…”

“…Both larvae and adults of S. parcesetosum could feed on all of the B. tabaci developmental stages and they were voracious feeders, capable for consuming a great number of the cotton whiteXy immature stages in a short period (Kapadia and Puri 1992;Ahmad and Abboud 2001;Sengonca et al 2005). S. parcesetosum larval instars consumed approximately 1440 nymphs or 250 puparia of B. tabaci at 18°C, and 970 nymphs or 170 puparia at 30°C (Sengonca et al 2005). The predator's adults survived in average 5-6 months at 18°C and 2-3 months at 30°C on B. tabaci (Sengonca et al 2005), and they consumed just over 60 days of their longevity approximately 1900 nymphs or 600 puparia at 18°C and 3500 nymphs or 1400 puparia at 30°C (Sengonca et al 2005).…”

“…S. parcesetosum larval instars consumed approximately 1440 nymphs or 250 puparia of B. tabaci at 18°C, and 970 nymphs or 170 puparia at 30°C (Sengonca et al 2005). The predator's adults survived in average 5-6 months at 18°C and 2-3 months at 30°C on B. tabaci (Sengonca et al 2005), and they consumed just over 60 days of their longevity approximately 1900 nymphs or 600 puparia at 18°C and 3500 nymphs or 1400 puparia at 30°C (Sengonca et al 2005). Because of this laboratory success of S. parcesetosum as a bio-agent of B. tabaci and its high control potential on the cotton whiteXy, the present work aimed to evaluate the eYciency of this predator as a biological control agent of B. tabaci, where the predator was introduced at two diVerent times.…”

Occurrence and biology of Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank, 1802) (Hymenoptera; Braconidae: Euphorinae) parasitising different species of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) in Neotropical region

“…Many Coccinellidae species are efficient predators and easily adapt to both changes in quantity and quality of their prey (Segonça et al, 2005;Weber and Lundgren, 2009). Although recorded from several ecosystems, some of them show variability in the level of establishment of their populations, which leads to the reduction of its effectiveness.…”