The parasitoid Anagyrus kamali Moursi [Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae] has been recently introduced into the Caribbean as a biological control agent against the Hibiscus Mealybug (HMB), Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green [Homoptera: Pseudococcidae]. Information on this parasitoid is scarce and investigations of its biology and behaviour were conducted to optimize its mass-production, and improve our understanding of the A. kamali/M. hirsutus system. Host selection experiments showed that, of nine species tested, HMB was the only suitable mealybug species for A. kamali development. Third nymphal instar was the optimal stage for wasp mass-production since A. kamali progeny from this stage had a female biased sex ratio and it had a weaker immune response as evidenced by lower encapsulation rate than adult female HMB. Parasitoid functional response was of type III in variable-time conditions, ensuring the preservation of HMB population at low density, and of type II--III in fixed-time conditions, leading to a better use of HMB population in mass-rearing. Temperature and photoperiod had a profound impact on parasitoid fecundity, 26°C and LD 0:24 being the optimal condition to maximize A. kamali oviposition. Parasitoid body size was positively correlated to its fitness. Large parasitoids lived significantly longer, had a higher fecundity, and progeny emergence with a lower sex ratio than small ones. Studies on mating showed that A. kamali is arrhenotokous and that multiple mating is required to optimize progeny sex ratio. Progeny production by mated females was also higher than that of virgin females. Female parasitoid fecundity was negatively correlated to their density due to mutual interference. Under mass-rearing conditions, 75 female A. kamali per cage was the optimum. Finally, under stored condition, food supply and low temperature (20°C) appeared essential to sustain parasitoid longevity. However, storage periods up to 14 days did not affect parasitoid lifetime fec

No description available.

A taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the tribe Habrolepidini is described. A cladistic analysis was carried out in order to establish the phylogenetic relationships of the supraspecific taxa of the tribe. An illustrated key for the identification at the level of genera is included. Based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis, the diagnosis and taxonomic descriptions of the recognized taxa are presented. A single most parsimonius parsimony tree was obtained from the cladistic analysis based on 67 morphological characters, generated by a two-step procedure using PAUP. Initially, heuristic searches considering all characters with equal weights resulted in three equally parsimonious trees. Then the method of successive approximation weighting was applied to the three trees. The values of statistic parameters of the most parsimonious tree are: length = 582 steps; consistency index = 0.4966, retention index = 0.5850. The results support the hypothesis that the tribe Habrolepidini is monophyletic. It is defined by the presence of a specialized ventral mandibular tooth that is formed through modification of a seta into a stout socketed spine and three more unambiguous characters, clava length from 2.57 to 3.28, small hexagonal sculpture of scutellum and sensilla in three circles in a straight line. The inclusion of the genera Anthemus, Arrenophagoidea, Arrenophagus, Thomsonisca and Zaomma into Habrolepidini is supported by the presence of the mandibular tooth or by sister group relationships to other taxa with the mandibular tooth. The revision of the genera Ceraptroceroideus and Homalopoda is included; the taxonomic revision of each genus includes a key, diagnosis, descriptions and illustrations for all the species.

A taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the tribe Habrolepidini is described. A cladistic analysis was carried out in order to establish the phylogenetic relationships of the supraspecific taxa of the tribe. An illustrated key for the identification at the level of genera is included. Based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis, the diagnosis and taxonomic descriptions of the recognized taxa are presented. A single most parsimonius parsimony tree was obtained from the cladistic analysis based on 67 morphological characters, generated by a two-step procedure using PAUP. Initially, heuristic searches considering all characters with equal weights resulted in three equally parsimonious trees. Then the method of successive approximation weighting was applied to the three trees. The values of statistic parameters of the most parsimonious tree are: length = 582 steps; consistency index = 0.4966, retention index = 0.5850. The results support the hypothesis that the tribe Habrolepidini is monophyletic. It is defined by the presence of a specialized ventral mandibular tooth that is formed through modification of a seta into a stout socketed spine and three more unambiguous characters, clava length from 2.57 to 3.28, small hexagonal sculpture of scutellum and sensilla in three circles in a straight line. The inclusion of the genera Anthemus, Arrenophagoidea, Arrenophagus, Thomsonisca and Zaomma into Habrolepidini is supported by the presence of the mandibular tooth or by sister group relationships to other taxa with the mandibular tooth. The revision of the genera Ceraptroceroideus and Homalopoda is included; the taxonomic revision of each genus includes a key, diagnosis, descriptions and illustrations for all the species.

Submitted by Matheus Alves de Siqueira (matheuspucc2012@gmail.com) on 2018-10-10T15:23:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado - Final.pdf: 1507669 bytes, checksum: 9b8cf5a5eebde96d5328c987222e1bd9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Neli Silvia Pereira null (nelisps@fcav.unesp.br) on 2018-10-10T17:40:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 siqueira_ma_me_jabo.pdf: 1507669 bytes, checksum: 9b8cf5a5eebde96d5328c987222e1bd9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-10T17:40:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 siqueira_ma_me_jabo.pdf: 1507669 bytes, checksum: 9b8cf5a5eebde96d5328c987222e1bd9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-29 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / RESUMO – A família Pseudococcidae é a segunda maior da Infraordem Coccomorpha, com cerca de 2000 espécies descritas. No Brasil, conhecidas popularmente como cochonilhas-farinhentas, compreendem a terceira maior família, com 77 espécies registradas, distribuídas em 22 gêneros. Destas, 32 espécies são conhecidas para o estado de São Paulo, sendo 30% polífagas e de origem exótica, infestando plantas de importância agrícola. O controle biológico é uma alternativa, e dentre os inimigos naturais os himenópteros parasitoides vêm sendo muito utilizados. O objetivo deste trabalho foi inventariar os micro-himenópteros parasitoides de 11 espécies de pseudococcídeos pragas, primarias ou secundarias, de várias culturas e plantas ornamentais no estado de São Paulo, como café, citros, pinha, goiabeira, entre outros, relacionando estes com seu hospedeiro, origem e distribuição geográfica. Os levantamentos dos himenópteros parasitoides foram realizados entre agosto de 2016 e agosto de 2017, de forma aleatória, em áreas rural e urbana de cinco municípios do estado São Paulo: Jales, Ribeirão Preto, Jaboticabal, São Carlos e Campinas. As espécies de pseudococcídeos amostrados para obtenção dos parasitoides foram: Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell, 1893), Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell, 1893), Leptococcus capixaba Kondo, 2005, Leptococcus minutus (Hempel, 1932), Maconelicoccus hirsutus (Green, 1908), Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell, 1893), Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898, Planococcus citri (Risso, 1813), Planococcus minor (Maskell, 1897), Pseudococcus cryptus (Hempel, 1918) e Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti, 1867). Obtiveram-se 628 exemplares de himenópteros parasitoides, distribuídos em 27 espécies. Registra-se aqui, pela primeira vez, Bothriocraera bicolor Compere & Zinna, 1955, Gyranusoidea deionae Noyes, 2000 e Allotropa merrilli Muesebeck, 1954 no Brasil; e, Anagyrus fusciventris (Girault, 1915), Gyranusoidea pseudococci (Bréthes, 1924) e Tetracnemoidea peregrina (Compere, 1939) para o estado de São Paulo; e 26 novas associações entre cochonilha/parasitoide. Os gêneros que apresentaram o maior número de espécies associadas aos pseudococcídeos foram: Gyranusoidea, Anagyrus e Aprostocetus. / ABSTRACT– The Pseudococcidae family is the second largest from the Coccomorpha Infraorder, with about 2000 described species. In Brazil, popularly known as mealybugs, it comprised the third largest family, with 77 species registered, distributed in 22 genera. From these, 32 species are known to the state of São Paulo, being 30% polyphagous from exotic origin, infesting plants of agricultural importance. Biological control is an alternative and among natural enemies, parasitoid Hymenoptera are being widely used. The objective of this work was to inventory the parasitoid microhymenoptera from 11 mealybug pest species, primary or secondary, from various crops and ornamental plants in the state of São Paulo, such as coffee, citrus, sugar-apple, guavas and others, relating these to their host, origin and geographical distribution. The parasitoid hymenopteran surveys were carried out between August 2016 and August 2017, in a random way, in rural and urban areas from five municipalities in the state of São Paulo: Jales, Ribeirão Preto, Jaboticabal, São Carlos and Campinas. The Pseudococcidae species sampled to obtain parasitoids were: Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell, 1893), Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell, 1893), Leptococcus capixaba Kondo, 2005, Leptococcus minutus (Hempel, 1932), Maconelicoccus hirsutus (Green, 1908), Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell, 1893), Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898, Planococcus citri (Risso, 1813), Planococcus minor (Maskell, 1897), Pseudococcus cryptus (Hempel, 1918) and Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti, 1867). There were 628 specimens of parasitoid Hymenoptera distributed in 27 different species. It is recorded here, for the first time, Bothriocraera bicolor Compere & Zinna, 1955, Gyranusoidea deionae Noyes, 2000 and Allotropa merrilli Muesebeck, 1954 for Brazil; and, Anagyrus fusciventris (Girault, 1915), Gyranusoidea pseudococci (Bréthes, 1924), e Tetracnemoidea peregrina (Compere, 1939) for the state of São Paulo; and 26 new associations between mealybugs x parasitoids. The genera that presented the greatest number of species associated to the Pseudococcidae were: Gyranusoidea, Anagyrus e Aprostocetus. / 134767/2016-0

Phenacoccus peruvianus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is an invasive mealybug of Neotropical origin, first reported in the Mediterranean Basin in Almeria (Spain) in 1999. In the following years the mealybug spread into other Mediterranean regions and has also been recorded in Portugal and France, as well as in Sicily, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Phenacoccus peruvianus is a polyphagous species and damages economically important ornamental plants. Since this was a relatively unknown species, during the first years of invasion, the mealybug was managed by the application of chemical treatments with wide-spectrum pesticides. However, the latest European directive on pesticide use reduces or even forbids pesticide applications in a wide range of urban green areas, giving significant priority to biological control (European Parliament and Council 2009). This thesis sets the basis for introducing biological control into a P. peruvianus management program in urban landscapes, focusing on its characterization, sampling, biology and control. In order to facilitate the identification of this and other mealybug species, we characterised 33 mealybug populations infesting crops and ornamental plants in Eastern Spain, using a combination of molecular and morphological techniques. This characterisation led to the identification of ten mealybug species and made routine identification possible through DNA sequencing or the use of derived species-specific molecular tools. The sequences obtained also add to the phylogenetic knowledge of the Pseudococcidae family and provide insight into the invasion history of some species. Phenacoccus peruvianus populations were high in bougainvillea plants during spring and summer, declining to almost undetectable levels in autumn and winter. The mealybug was mainly found in bracts and there were no significant migrations between plant strata. Phenacoccus peruvianus showed a high aggregated distribution on bracts, leaves and twigs. We recommend a binomial sampling of 200 leaves and an action threshold of 55% infested leaves for IPM purposes in urban landscapes. Its most abundant natural enemies were found to be the primary parasitoids Acerophagus n. sp. near coccois and Leptomastix epona Walker (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). We also identified several predator species from the Anthocoridae, Coccinellidae, Chamaemyiidae, and Chrysopidae families. Phenacoccus peruvianus populations were lower during the second and third year of the survey, coinciding with an increase in the parasitoid Acerophagus sp. populations, which displaced the native L. epona. Differential female offspring and resource preemption are discussed as the main reasons for this displacement. To obtain further information on the biology of the new parasitoid Acerophagus sp. we determined some traits of its reproductive and feeding strategies. Acerophagus sp. egg load reached its maximum when it was 5 days old with almost 30 mature eggs. Phenacoccus peruvianus second and third nymphal instars and adults were suitable for parasitism and efficient encapsulation was low (10.76 ± 0.31 %). The parasitoid always preferred older instars when different host instars were available. Acerophagus sp. developed as a solitary parasitoid in the second instar and as a gregarious parasitoid in older instars (2¿4 parasitoids per host). Moreover, it reproduced parthenogenetically and all the emerged offspring were females. Immature development lasted between 20 and 22 days at 25°C and 65% HR. Under these conditions, adults lived for longer than 20 days when fed on honey, but fewer than 3 days when fed on naturally occurring sugar sources (host honeydew and Bougainvillea glabra flowers). / Beltrà Ivars, A. (2014). Biology and management of the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus peruvianus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in urban landscapes [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/37233 / TESIS