Abstract
We evaluated the effects of adult mating and temperature on the biological potential and parasitism of Telenomus podisi (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) on Euschistus heros (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Females were isolated and the characteristics of the F1 generation were compared with those of females previously copulated. The parasitism capacity of T. podisi on E. heros eggs at 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C was evaluated. The longevity of parental females (days), egg-adult period (days) of the F1 generation, parasitism of parental females (%), and parasitoid emergence (%) were not influenced by the lack or not of the copulation. The offspring of non-copulated females were males, and arrhenotokous parthenogenesis occurred. The temperatures most favorable to the parasitoid were 25 and 30 °C. Even previously copulated females generated mostly males after a few days of oviposition. Therefore, the biological characteristics and reproduction of T. podisi were impacted by adult mating prior to parasitism and by different temperatures. Although parasitism of T. podisi was not affected by mating parasitoid permanence in the field, it may be affected when unmated females are released.
Highlights
Piercing-sucking insects are one of the most important groups of arthropods that attack soybeans in South America
Mating seemed to have a low effect on the evaluated characteristics of T. podisi parasitism
The progeny sex ratio differed between mated and unmated females, with 100% of progeny originating from virgin T. podisi females being males and only 46% of the progeny originating from the mated females being males, indicating the occurrence of arrhenotokous parthenogenesis in the absence of copulation (Table 1)
Summary
Piercing-sucking insects are one of the most important groups of arthropods that attack soybeans in South America. Those pests are noteworthy for feeding directly on the pods, thereby seriously affecting crop yields (Panizzi & Slanky, 1985; Corrêa-Ferreira & Azevedo, 2002). In this complex of insects belonging to the family Pentatomidae, at least 54 species have been reported from soybean-growing areas (Panizzi & Slanky, 1985). The abuse of insecticides has brought some negative effects (Song & Swinton, 2009), such as the rapid selection of pesticide-resistant pest strains that are resistant to a given active ingredient (Diez-Rodriguez & Omoto, 2001; Sosa-Gómez et al, 2001; Sosa-Gómez & Silva, 2010) or the reduction of natural biological control agents, especially when non-selective insecticides are used (Carmo et al, 2010; van Lenteren & Bueno, 2003)
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