Simone Silva Vieira

Effects of pesticides used in soybean crops to the egg parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum

This research aimed to study the effects of different insecticides, herbicides and fungicides on eggs, larvae and pupae of Trichogramma pretiosum. The results showed that studied pesticides had different impact on T. pretiosum. Esfenvalerate 7.5 and spinosad 24.0 grams ha-1 were classified as harmfull (class 4) while clorfluazuron 10.0, methoxyfenozide 19.2, lactofen 165.0, fomesafen 250.0, fluazifop 125.0, glyphosate 960.0 (Gliz® and Roundup Transorb®), azoxistrobin + ciproconazol 60.0 + 24.0, azoxistrobin 50.0 and myclobutanil 125.0 grams ha-1 were chemicals classified as harmless to all imature T. pretiosum stages. All the other chemicals evaluated had different impact on T. pretiosum being classified from harmless (class 1) to harmful (class 4) varying the impact accordingly to the different parasitoid stage. Then, less noxious products should be chosen whenever possible to be used in a soybean IPM program.

Parasitism capacity of Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) on Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs

This work studied the parasitism capacity of Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) on Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) eggs at 15, 20, 25, 28, 31, and 35°C, aiming to use this natural enemy in biological control programs in crops where S. frugiperda was considered pest. The parasitism during the first 24 h was 60.90, 81.65, 121.05, 117.55 and 108.55 parasited eggs per female from egg masses of approximately 150 eggs, at 15, 20, 25, 28 and 31°C, respectively. Females of T. remus reached parasitism higher than 80% at 15, 20, 25, 28 and 31oC at 5, 27, 8, 2, and 2 days, respectively. At 35oC, there was no parasitism. The highest parasitism rates occurred at 20, 25, 28 and 31°C. T. remus female longevity varied from 15.7 to 7.7 days from 15 to 31°C. The highest tested temperature (35°C) was inappropriate for T. remus development. At that temperature, female longevity was greatly reduced (1.7±0.02) and egg viability was null. All T. remus survival curves were of type I, which showed an increase in mortality rate with time.

Seletividade de diferentes agrotóxicos usados na cultura da soja ao parasitoide de ovos Telenomus remus

Biological control agent preservation is crucial to the integrated pest management success. However, chemical control is yet useful for crop production. Thus, pesticide selectivity to beneficial insects is a feature that must always be taken into account in order to choose the best chemical. Therefore, this research studied the impact caused by different pesticides in the egg parasitoid, Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) emergence, when sprayed on the larvae and pupae stage (Egg masses from 100 to 150 eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) six and ten days after the parasitism, respectively). Three trials, with 11 treatments and 5 repetitions, were carried out in the laboratory with insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Each test was carried out with 10 treatments of chemicals and water as control. All chemicals were tested at rates used in soybean crops. Eggs of S. frugiperda parasitized by T. remus, were immersed in the treatments for five seconds. After completely dry, they were placed in plastic bags until the emergence of adults of parasitoids. The viability of parasitism was evaluated and the reduction in the emergence of the parasitoids classified according to the rules of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC). The results showed that the insect growth-regulating (IGR) insecticides flufenoxuron, diflubenzuron, methoxyfenozide as well as the insecticides imidacloprid + beta-cyfluthrin and acephate were harmless to the parasitoid immature stages . Spinosad was classified as harmless for larvae of T. remus. Gama-cyhalothrin was slightly harmful to larvae and harmless to pupa of T. remus. Bifenthrin and chlorpyrifos were, respectively, slightly harmful and harmful to both stages of development of T. remus development. Regarding to the tested herbicides, 2,4-D, s-metolachlor, flumioxazin, paraquat dichloride + diuron, paraquat dichloride and glyphosate (Roundup Transorb®) were harmless. However, glyphosate + imazethapyr, clomazone, glyphosate (Gliz®), glyphosate (Roundup Ready®) were harmless to the larvae stage and slightly harmful (class 2) to T. remus pupae. Similar results were obtained with the fungicides flutriafol + tiofanate, carbenzadin, tebuconazol + trifloxystrobin and azoxystrobin + ciproconazol which were classified as harmless. Tiofanate-metil, tebuconazol and epoxyconazol + pyraclostrobin were slightly harmful to larvae and pupae. Inversely, epoxyconazol and azoxystrobin were harmless to larvae and slightly harmful to pupae. Flutriafol was classified as slightly harmful to both development stages of T. remus.

Biological characteristics and parasitism capacity of Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) on eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

This study aimed at evaluating the biological characteristics and the capacity of parasitism of a Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1869 (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) strain (T. pretiosum RV) collected in Rio Verde County, State of Goias, Brazil. The study was carried out on eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) and conducted under controlled environmental conditions at different constant temperatures. The biological parameters determined were: developmental time (egg-adult; days); emergence (%); sex ratio; number of progeny/egg; number of generation/year; thermal constant (K); temperature threshold (Tb); daily number of parasitized eggs; cumulative parasitism (%); total number of eggs parasitized by T. pretiosum; and female longevity. To study the T. pretiosum parasitism capacity, 20 S. frugiperda eggs (< 24 h old) were placed into 8.0 cm x 2.0 cm glass vials containing one female (< 24 h old) each. Trials were carried out in a completely randomized experimental design, with 20 replications at each temperature. The environmental chambers (BOD type) were set at 18oC, 20oC, 22oC, 25oC, 28oC and 32oC ± 1oC, 70 ±10% relative humidity, and 14/10 h (L:D) photoperiod. The eggs of S. frugiperda were replaced daily until parasitoid death. Results have shown an inverse correlation between developmental time and temperature, with statistically significant differences among means, except at 25oC and 28oC (10 days). Parasitoid emergence (%) was also influenced by temperature. The lowest percent emergence was observed at 32oC, and the highest ones at 18oC and 20oC temperatures. The temperature did not affect T. pretiosum sex ratio and number of parasitoids per egg, thus allowing changes in the temperature to control insect mass production in the laboratory to meet the needs for field releases.

Preferência hospedeira do parasitoide de ovos Trichogramma pretiosum

The success of Trichogramma spp. releases in biological control programs relies upon the knowledge of the parasitoid bio-ecological characteristics and the parasitoid interaction with the target pest. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate T. pretiosum host preference among eggs of S. frugiperda, S. albula, S. eridania, A. gemmatalis, P. includens, D. saccharalis and A. kuehniella. Polyethylene cages were set to test host preference of T. pretiosum comparing each two groups of host species. The evaluated parameter was parasitism (%) and parasitoid emergence (%). T. pretiosum females parasitized preferably A. kuehniella eggs. However, in the bioassay with A. gemmatalis X P. includens and D. saccharalis X S. frugiperda there was no difference in the parasitism. Then, in the free choice test, in the absence of the host in which the parasitoid was reared (A. kuehniella), T. pretiosum shows no host preference indicating the existence of pre-imaginal conditioning acquired during larval development. The parasitism viability results were variable among the different tested hosts.

Different timing of whitefly control and soybean yield

Experimentos foram conduzidos em Parauna, Goias, Brasil, avaliando o impacto da mosca-branca na producao de soja. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com quatro tratamentos e quatro repeticoes (10m x 20m). Os tratamentos foram diferentes niveis de infestacao, obtidos pela aplicacao de inseticidas em diferentes momentos; a testemunha foi mantida livre do ataque da praga, aplicando-se inseticida semanalmente. O numero de insetos por foliolo foi avaliado semanalmente e, na colheita, foi avaliada a produtividade (kg ha-1) e o peso de 100 sementes (g). A soja foi tolerante a mosca-branca, visto que apenas o tratamento em que as ninfas por foliolo atingiram a media de 136,31±26,60 (tratamento sem aplicacao de inseticidas) foi severo o suficiente para causar perdas de produtividade. Essa perda foi provavelmente associada a formacao de fumagina, causada pelo fungo Capnodium sp., que se desenvolve nas secrecoes acucaradas produzidas pela mosca-branca na superficie das folhas. Portanto, inseticidas precisam apenas ser aplicados quando a infestacao de mosca-branca for severa o suficiente para propiciar a formacao de fumagina. Entretanto, a relacao entre o numero de insetos por foliolo e a formacao de fumagina ainda precisa ser determinada para diferentes cultivares, assim como para diferentes condicoes ambientais.

Interaction between Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum in the management of Spodoptera spp.

Interaction betweeen Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum in the management of Spodoptera spp. The use of egg parasitoids is a promising strategy for Integrated Pest Management (IPM), but different species of parasitoids have greater or lesser control efficiency, depending on the pest species. Recently, not only Anticarsia gemmatalis and Pseudoplusia includens but also Spodoptera cosmioides and S. eridania have been among the key Lepidoptera larvae attacking soybeans. This study evaluated the combination of Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum for parasitism of eggs of the Spodoptera complex, for better control efficiency and broader spectrum of action among the key pests of soybeans. The experiment was carried out under controlled environmental conditions (25 ± 2oC; 70 ± 10% RH; and 14 h photophase) in a completely randomized experimental design with seven treatments and 10 replicates with S. frugiperda, S. cosmioides and S. eridania eggs. Each replicate consisted of one egg mass of each Spodoptera species, with approximately 100 eggs offered to the parasitoids. The treatments were: 1) 10 females of T. pretiosum; 2) nine females of T. pretiosum and one female of T. remus; 3) eight females of T. pretiosum and two females of T. remus; 4) seven females of T. pretiosum and three females of T. remus; 5) six females of T. pretiosum and four females of T. remus; 6) five females of T. pretiosum and five females of T. remus, and 7) 10 females of T. remus. The parameter evaluated was the percentage of parasitized eggs. Results showed that treatments combining both parasitoid species with only 1 T. remus for each 9 T. pretiosum (10%) and only 2 T. remus for each 8 T. pretiosum (20%) were enough to significantly increase the parasitism observed on eggs of S. cosmioides and S. frugiperda, respectively. This association of T. pretiosum and T. remus in different proportions is very promising for biological control in IPM programs because it provides wide spectrum of control.