Abstract
Brazil has a long history of the use of biological control (BC) of pests. The first attempt to use parasitoids was reported in the 1930s, and the first successful case dates to 1967. For a long period, chemical products were the most widespread control measure among Brazilian growers. This situation has gradually changed because of the lack of satisfactory control to manage certain pests, a slow change in the culture of growers, and some emblematic cases of the successful use of BC. The use of BC as a component of Integrated Pest Management is increasingly common. The present contribution summarizes the evolution of BC in Brazil, citing as an example the case of successful use of Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Trichogramma spp. It presents some data on the utilization of BC in the country, such as the case of sugarcane, for which microorganisms as well as macroorganisms are used; the use of Baculovirus in soybean, produced in mass-reared lepidopteran larvae; and the recent case of the control of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) by the parasitoid Tamarixia radiata. Finally, the prospects for wider use of BC in Brazil are discussed, together with the challenges involved in broadening the growers’ use of this technology.
Highlights
Brazil has a long history of the use of biological control (BC) of pests
The first insect introduced in Brazil as a biological control (BC) agent to control agricultural pests was Encarsia berlesei (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), in 1921
This wasp was imported from the United States, aiming to control Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) in peach orchards (Parra 2014). This was 32 yr after the emblematic case of Classical Biological Control in the world, the control of Icerya purchasi Maskel (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) in orange groves in California (USA) by Rodolia cardinalis Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a species of Coccinellidae introduced from Australia (Caltagirone and Doutt 1989)
Summary
Extension courses on ‘Insect rearing and nutrition techniques aiming Biological Control Programs’ have been offered since 1980 (annually or every 2 yr) in different parts of the country, under the coordination of Prof. In Brazil, in the 2018 growing season, in sugarcane fields alone about 2 million ha are being ‘treated’ with Trichogramma galloi Zucchi (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), in order to control D. saccharalis (ABCBio, personal communication) This program was conducted in the following steps: i) collection, species identification, and strain selection; ii) selection of the most suitable factitious host for mass production of the parasitoid; iii) biological and behavioral studies; iv) egg dynamics in the field; v) in vitro production (attempt); vi) mass rearing and quality control; vii) release techniques, tailored to the plant phenology; viii) selectivity of agrochemicals to the parasitoid; ix) evaluation of field efficiency and cost/benefit analysis (Parra et al 2015). For T. galloi, the results have revealed a tendency for populations maintained on the natural host to adapt to the laboratory rearing conditions; strategies to minimize these effects were discussed by Bertin et al (2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
