Departament of Plant Protection, School of Agricultural Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus of Botucatu, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
Instituto Superior de Estudios Forestales, CENUR Noreste Sede Tacuarembó, Universidad de la República, Tacuarembó, Uruguay.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 2;15(10):e0239285. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239285. eCollection 2020.
Cleruchoides noackae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), native to Australia, is the most promising biological control agent for Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae), an exotic Eucalyptus spp. pest in Brazil. The aim of this study was to determine the courtship behaviour, mating and oviposition of unmated or mated C. noackae females parasitizing T. peregrinus eggs utilizing the same rearing system used in biological control programmes in Brazil. The mating behaviour of eleven C. noackae unmated couples was observed and the time taken for males and females to find each other in polystyrene vials and the duration and number of copulations were recorded. Ten unmated or mated females were placed individually in vials with 10 T. peregrinus eggs each, and oviposition behaviour, percentage of eggs inserted and parasitized, viability and sex ratio of emerged C. noackae were recorded. This species lacked defined courtship behaviour and mated in less than an hour after adults' emergence. The time spent finding the first host, evaluating and inserting the ovipositor was similar for mated and unmated C. noackae females, as well as the frequency of inserted and parasitized eggs and their viability. Mated females took less time to find other host eggs and the sex ratio is female-biased. Occurrence of arrhenotokous parthenogenesis was confirmed. The ability of C. noackae to mate and lay eggs in less than one hour and parasitism of T. peregrinus eggs by females can improve the parasitoid mass rearing and biological control of T. peregrinus.
无爪实蝇茧蜂（膜翅目：金小蜂科）原产于澳大利亚，是巴西外来树种桉树害虫——榆绿毛萤叶甲（半翅目：叶甲科）最有前景的生物防治手段。本研究旨在确定利用巴西生物防治项目中相同的饲养系统，对未交配或交配的无爪实蝇茧蜂寄生榆绿毛萤叶甲卵的求偶行为、交配和产卵行为进行研究。观察了 11 对无爪实蝇茧蜂未交配的雌雄对，记录了雌雄在聚苯乙烯小瓶中找到彼此的时间以及交配的持续时间和次数。将 10 只未交配或交配的雌性单独放入盛有 10 个榆绿毛萤叶甲卵的小瓶中，记录产卵行为、插入和寄生卵的百分比、活力和出蜂的雌雄比例。该种无特定求偶行为，在成虫出现后不到一小时就交配。寻找第一个宿主、评估和插入产卵器的时间，以及交配和未交配的无爪实蝇茧蜂雌蜂插入和寄生卵的频率及其活力，对两者来说均相似。交配后的雌蜂找到其他宿主卵的时间更短，且性别比例偏向雌性。孤雌生殖的发生得到了证实。无爪实蝇茧蜂在不到一小时内交配和产卵，以及雌性对榆绿毛萤叶甲卵的寄生能力，提高了该寄生蜂的大规模繁殖和对榆绿毛萤叶甲的生物防治能力。
