Rafael Guzmán-Mendoza

Parasitoids1 of Sugarcane Aphid, Melanaphis sacchari2, at Irapuato, Guanajuato, México

Abstract. In the Bajio región, natural parasitism is diverse against the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner). The most abundant species, Aphidius spp. (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae), parasitizes as much as 31% of sugarcane aphids. Binodoxys, Diaretiella, Lysiphlebus, and Praon were less abundant genera of parasitoids.

Species richness of noctuid moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from the State of Guanajuato, Mexico

The Noctuidae are a family with many species worldwide, but in Mexico, there is little information about their species richness despite noctuids being very important pests in agriculture. With data obtained from fieldwork and specimens from the Entomological Collection of Universidad de Guanajuato, a list of species found in Guanajuato was made, taking into account distribution and biogeographic affinity data. The results showed 77 species, of which 36.3% had a distribution of Megamexico I affinity, 33.7% had Nearctic affinity, and 16.8% were cosmopolitan, whereas the rest of the species had distributions that corresponded to Megamexico II and III. The high percentage of northern species suggests that the biogeographic affinity of the noctuids from Guanajuato is close to the southern USA and northern Mexico. This research reports 30 new species records for Mexico, and 1 species may be a potential agent for the biological control of reed canarygrass, a major weed species. Sumario Noctuidae es una familia de palomillas con muchas especies reconocidas alrededor del mundo, pero en Mexico hay poca informacion disponible sobre su riqueza a pesar de que los noctuidos se consideran plagas en la agricultura. Con datos obtenidos en campo y de la revision de ejemplares de la Coleccion Entomologica de la Universidad de Guanajuato, se elaboro un listado de especies tomando en cuenta la distribucion y la afinidad biogeografica. Se encontraron 77 especies, 36.3% de afinidad Megamexico I, 33.7% de afinidad Neartica y 16.8% cosmopolitas, el resto de las especies tienen distribucion que corresponde a Megamexico II y III. El alto porcentaje de especies nortenas sugiere que Guanajuato es mas parecido al sur de Estados Unidos y Norte de Mexico. En esta investigacion se reportan 30 nuevos registros de especies para Mexico, una con el potencial de usarse como control biologico de malezas en cultivos. View this article in BioOne