Parasitism disruption by ants of Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault) and Leptomastix dactylopii Howard (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), two parasitoids of the citrus.

Abstract

*[Lasius niger (Latreille) is the most abundant specie in citrus groves in this area, so the effect of this ant on P. citri parasitization by A. pseudococci & L. dactylopii was studied. L. niger significantly reduced parasitism by about 35%, while sex ratio of the progeny remained unaffected in both parasitoid species. When both parasitoids were tested altogether, ants reduced parasitism by about 50%. Field observation showed that ants rarely left the calyx area where mealybugs were located, & both parasitoids were able to attack P. citri in presence of attending ants. Host inspection by L. dactylopii was detected by ants in 59% of the events, compared to A. pseudococci, which was only detected in 32% of the events. Disturbance by ants led A. pseudococci to leave the host, or the fruit itself, more frequently than L. dactylopii.] Presented at: International Conference on Integrated Control in Citrus Fruit Crops, Proceedings of the meeting at Lisbon, Portugal, 26 - 27 September, 2005, Ferran Garcia-Marí (ed.), IOBC wprs Bulletin/Bulletin OILB srop, 2006, Vol. 29 (3) abstracts http://www.iobc-wprs.org/pub/bulletins/bulletin_2006_29_03_abstracts.pdf