BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF Campoletis flavicincta (ASHMEAD) (HYMENOPTERA: ICHNEUMONIDAE) E INTERACTIONS WITH THE VIRUS OF THE NUCLEAR POLIEDROSE OF Spodoptera frugiperda

• Main Authors: WALTER JOSÉ RODRIGUES MATRANGOLO, ANGÉLICA MARIA PENTADO MARTINS-DIAS, IVAN CRUZ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Milho e Sorgo 2007-04-01
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Milho e Sorgo
• Subjects: intra specific competition; attractive; host discrimination; impact
• Online Access: http://rbms.cnpms.embrapa.br/index.php/ojs/article/view/207/205
• ISSN: 1676-689X; 1980-6477

The Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus of S. frugiperda (J. E. Smith)(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (NPV - Sf) and the parasitoid Campoletis flavicincta (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) compete for the same resource, that is, firsts instars of S. frugiperda. Biological aspects and the capacity of the parasitoid to differentiate between healthy hosts larvae and infected by NPV - Sf were studied under laboratory conditions. More than one egg of parasitoid was found inside of the majority of S. frugiperda larvae. Incubation period was approximately 48 hours. Only one developed larvae could be observed 24 hours after the parasitoid hatching. Probably, due to intra specific competition by physical attack among first stadium larvae (presence of jaws, that does not exist at the subsequent stadiums), only one survived. In the treatment without choice option, more eggs had been deposited in healthy larvae. In the olfactometer test, the presence of S. frugiperda larvae (infected or not) determined the greater attraction of females. The female parasitoid discrimination between healthy and infected host larvae can minimize the negative impact of the virus on the parasitoid. The data related to the interactions of those two organisms that maintain close relationships to each other, should direct the decisions that guarantee a larger biodiversity in the agro ecosystem of the corn crop.