Neotropical Entomology (2021) 50, 593-604

Daniela Moro, Ana Paula Gonçalves da Silva Wengrat, Valmir Antonio Costa, Henrique Pozebon, We Tek Tay, Julia Guimarães Bevilaqua, Lauren Brondani Castilhos, Guilherme Padilha, Gustavo Andrade Ugalde, Alberto Cargnelutti Filho, Jerson Vanderlei Carus Guedes and Jonas André Arnemann (2021)
Integrative techniques confirms the presence of Bemisia tabaci parasitoids: Encarsia formosa, Encarsia porteri and Eretmocerus mundus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on soybean and tomatoes in South Brazil
Neotropical Entomology 50 (4), 593-604
Abstract: Parasitoid wasps from the Aphelinidae family (Hymenoptera) are important control agents of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889) cryptic species, both through reproduction and feeding processes. Identifying native parasitoid species within agricultural systems affected by Bemisia whitefly species is the first step to developing guidelines for the creation and release of biological control agents aiming at this highly damaging pest species complex. Taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and molecular characters, respectively, confirmed the occurrence of Encarsia formosa (Gahan, 1924) in greenhouse tomatoes from Santa Maria, Encarsia porteri (Mercet, 1928) in open-field soybean from Santa Maria, and Eretmocerus mundus Mercet, 1931 in greenhouse tomatoes from São José do Hortêncio, all within Rio Grande do Sul state (South Brazil). This is the first report of En. formosa, En. porteri and Er. mundus parasitising B. tabaci in South Brazil, and the first En. porteri partial mtCOI gene sequence being reported and characterised. The high temperature inside the tomato greenhouses can be a possible cause for the predominance of Er. mundus in São José do Hortêncio, and sex ratios in the surveyed populations point to female and male prevalence within Encarsia and Eretmocerus genera, respectively. The combined use of taxonomic and molecular characterisation highlights the importance of combining both morphological and molecular approaches in the assessment of previously unidentified whitefly parasitoids.
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Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
surveys/distribution/isolation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bemisia tabaci	Soybean (Glycine max)	Brazil (south)
Encarsia formosa (parasitoid)	Bemisia tabaci		Brazil (south)
Eretmocerus mundus (parasitoid)	Bemisia tabaci		Brazil (south)
Encarsia porteri (parasitoid)	Bemisia tabaci		Brazil (south)