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The expansion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), including biological control, has had several positive consequences for the agricultural environment and participants in the production chain. To enable successful operation and applications of biological control, production of insects used for rearing natural enemies (parasitoids and predators) must be optimized to reduce time and costs and improve production both qualitatively and quantitatively. The present study evaluated the effect of wheat varieties, the main component of artificial diets for Ephestia kuehniella, on the reproductive performance and biological parameters of this flour moth, which is used for mass production of Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and other parasitoids and predators. Four varieties of wheat were compared: BRS 327, BRS Marcante, BRS Parrudo, and KBR, with and without the addition of corn E. kuehniella reared on 97% BRS 327 wheat flour + 3% nutritional yeast had the best biological parameters and substitution of corn for about half of the wheat increased the number of eggs per female.

Studies of insect feeding behavior are useful in different areas of entomology such as plant resistance, biology, and insecticide efficacy. For chewing insects, this kind of technique is well established, but for sap-sucking insects, especially tiny ones such as whiteflies, aphids, and psyllids, these tests can be laborious. Manipulation is difficult and can damage the plant, affecting the results. We describe here three types of cages for tests with small insects, one for seedlings in pots, a second for larger plants or plants in the field, and a third for caging insects on part of a leaf. These cages have been useful for different types of studies in addition to feeding behavior and can facilitate research with small phytophagous sucking insects.

Although many studies have been conducted on the development and reproductive potential of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, 1908 (Hemiptera: Liviidae) in different host species, few have evaluated these parameters on different varieties of the same host species. This study evaluated the influence of five commercial varieties of citrus (Citrus spp. L.)--Hamlin, Natal, Pêra, Ponkan, and Valencia-and orange jasmine [Murraya exotica (L.) Jack] on the development of D. citri. Survival rates for the egg stage were highest on orange jasmine (85.7%) and on Valencia (83.3%). The lowest viability of the nymphal stage was also observed on Hamlin, averaging 57.4%. Values for total viability ranged from 65.9 to 32.6%, and were highest on Valencia. The longest egg-adult development time was on Natal, with a mean of 18.4 d; the shortest total development time was on orange jasmine, with a mean of 17.3 d. Based on the fertility life table, the net reproductive rate (Ro) of D. citri was 2.5 times higher when reared on Valencia than on Hamlin. The other parameters (duration of each generation [T], finite rate of increase [lambda], and innate capacity to increase in number [r(m)]) also demonstrated that Valencia is best suited to this insect. The results obtained for the biological parameters and the fertility life table indicate that Valencia and orange jasmine were the most suitable hosts, whereas Hamlin was least suitable for the development of D. citri. These results provide information for the installation of new citrus groves, especially in the choice of varieties to be planted and the location of different varieties within the groves, with a view toward the management of Huanglongbing or HLB.

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This chapter focuses on potential invasion threats posed by well-recognized and poorly known lepidopteran pests associated with avocado fruit in the home range of this plant. It focuses on the most notorious of these fruit-feeding lepidopteran pests, namely Stenoma catenifer, describing its distribution, morphology, taxonomy, biology, ecology, developmental and reproductive biology, and control measures (using sex pheromones, natural enemies, cultural methods, sterile insect release, and insecticides).

This study aimed to evaluate adult emergence and duration of the pupal stage of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and emergence of the fruit fly parasitoid, Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead), under different moisture conditions in four soil types, using soil water matric potential. Pupal stage duration in C. capitata was influenced differently for males and females. In females, only soil type affected pupal stage duration, which was longer in a clay soil. In males, pupal stage duration was individually influenced by moisture and soil type, with a reduction in pupal stage duration in a heavy clay soil and in a sandy clay, with longer duration in the clay soil. As matric potential decreased, duration of the pupal stage of C. capitata males increased, regardless of soil type. C. capitata emergence was affected by moisture, regardless of soil type, and was higher in drier soils. The emergence of D. longicaudata adults was individually influenced by soil type and moisture factors, and the number of emerged D. longicaudata adults was three times higher in sandy loam and lower in a heavy clay soil. Always, the number of emerged adults was higher at higher moisture conditions. C. capitata and D. longicaudata pupal development was affected by moisture and soil type, which may facilitate pest sampling and allow release areas for the parasitoid to be defined under field conditions.

A biologia de Perileucoptera coffeella (Gêurin-Mêneville, 1842) foi estudada em condições de campo nas variedades catuaí, mundo novo e icatu (resistente ferrugem, Hemileia vastatrix, Berk et Br.), durante os meses de verso e inverno. O ciclo biológico do bicho-mineiro processou-se mais rapidamente na variedade icatu, nas duas pocas estudadas, sendo que na variedade mundo novo, este ciclo apresentou-se mais longo. As épocas do ano tiveram influência na biologia do bicho-mineiro, sendo que as baixas temperaturas, registradas durante os meses de inverno, atuaram no sentido de diminuir as viabilidades das diferentes fases do ciclo biológico, aumentando a duração total do ciclo da praga.

Estudou-se a biologia comparada de Spodoptera eridania (Cramer, 1782) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) em folhas de soja, Glycine max (L.) Merr. e algodoeiro, Gossypium hirsutum L. em condições de laboratório à temperatura de 27 ± 2ºC, umidade relativa de 80 ± 107V e fotoperíodo de 12 horas. Foram determinados em cada hospedeiro: duração, viabilidade e número de instares larvais, duração e viabilidade da fase de crisalida e seu peso para ambos os sexos, longevidade de adultos, períodos de pré-oviposição, incubação e total de ovos por fêmea. Observou-se um encurtamento do ciclo quando o inseto foi criado em algodoeiro, bem como uma maior rapacidade de multip1icaço nesse substrato alimentar. A duraço da fase de lagarta foi de 16,58 ± 1,16 dias em algodoeiro e de 22,33 ± 0,88 dias em soja.

Temperature is an important climate factor that has a direct influence on insect biology and consequently a crucial role in forecasting and integrated pest management. The mealybug Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is one of the most common species in Brazilian vineyards. Here, development and survival of D . brevipes on leaves of table grapes ( Vitis vinifera cv. Itália) were studied at five constant tem- peratures (15, 20, 25, 28, and 30 ± 1°C) under laboratory conditions. We investigated the developmental time and nymphal survival, temperature thresholds, and the degree-day requirements for each life stage of D . brevipes . The developmental time for the nymphal stage ranged from 32 to 130 days with decreasing the temperature, with the temperatures of 28 and 30°C providing the shorter developmental time. Survival of the entire nymphal stage was affected by the temperature, ranging from 81% at 20°C to 1% at 15°C. The predicted upper lethal temperature was 34.5°C, while the optimal temperature was 28.6°C. The minimum threshold for total devel- opment of D . brevipes occurred at 8.2°C. Dysmicoccus brevipes required 678.4 degree-days to complete development from first-instar nymph to adult. The temperature of 30°C was the most suitable for the development of D . brevipes. The thermal thresholds estimated for D . brevipes life cycle suggest that this species can develop in different table grape-producing regions of Brazil, in a temperature range between 8 and 35°C. Made available in DSpace on 2019-05-01T00:44:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bertinetal2018NeotropicalEntomology.pdf: 721586 bytes, checksum: db1febbff8f0839e33b20cf33eea2159 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018