Abstract
The rugose spiralling whitefly (RSW) Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin is an invasive pest of coconut in India. The behavioural response of its parasitoid Encarsia guadeloupae Viggiani (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on healthy and RSW infested host plants of coconut, banana, sapota and guava has been assessed in this study using a six arm olfactometer. Parasitoids’ attraction was maximum with the infested banana leaves (1.62± 0.28) followed by coconut (1.28± 0.20), guava (1.05± 0.24) and sapota (0.82± 0.24). The results obtained also reveal that E. guadeloupae can be mass reared on banana plants infested with RSW nymphs to enable better mass production of the parasitoid.
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