First record of Microctonus brassicae in Czechia, a potential biological control agent against a primary oilseed rape pest

Abstract

After the ban on treating oilseed rape seeds with neonicotinoids in European Union, cabbage stem flea beetles (Psylliodes chrysocephala Linnaeus, 1758) again became one of its main pests. In Czechia, the impact of this pest increases every year, given with the narrowing spectrum of suitable insecticides and growing damage to oilseed rape plants in autumn. Based on this scenario, it is appropriate to look for alternative options to control oilseed rape pests. One option could be supporting beneficial organisms. One of these organisms is the hymenopteran braconid parasitoid Microctonus brassicae (Haeselbarth, 2008), which parasitizes adult cabbage stem flea beetles. Its occurrence has now been confirmed outside Great Britain in Czechia and continental Europe respectively. Five male specimens of M. brassicae emerged from 50 collected adults of cabbage stem flea beetle by sweep netting from two localities in central Bohemia. This parasitoid of adult cabbage stem flea beetles and its larval parasitoids probably play an important role in the life cycle and population dynamics of this pest. Current knowledge about the biology, taxonomic classification and identification of this parasitoid is summarized in this paper.