Natural enemies of sugarcane planthopper pyrilla perpusilla walker (Homoptera:Lophopidae) in the wet zone of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sugarcane planthopper Pyrilla perpusilla is an important insect pest of sugarcane plantations in Sri Lanka. Although over thirty species of natural enemies have been recorded from sugarcane growing areas of the world, only nine species of natural enemies were found to attack the sugarcane planthopper in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. They comprised one egg parasitoid, six predatory arthropods, one bird species and one lizard species. The egg parasitoid in this study was identified as Parachrysocharis javensis (Girualt) (Hymenoptera:Eulophidae). Out of six predatory arthropods two were ants belonging to the genera Camponotus and Diacamma; another was a neuropteran of the genus Brinckochrysa and the fourth was a spider belonging to the genus Tetragnatha. The other two were an unidentified coccinelid beetle and a salticid spider. The mean percentage of egg clusters that were parasitized by Parachrysocharis javensis was 57.4% and the percentage of individual eggs parasitized ranged between 30 and 68 with a mean of 46.91 ± 5.2%. The abundance of predatory arthropods and climatic factors affecting this are also discussed.