Abstract
ABSTRACT Three exotic encyrtid parasitoids viz., Acerophagus papayae, Anagyrus loecki and Pseudleptomastix mexicana, introduced in India during 2010 under the classical biological control programme against an outbreak of papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus, an alien polyphagous pest, were evaluated on mulberry in Tamil Nadu. The nucleus culture of these three parasitoids were received from National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects, Bangalore, mass multiplied and released in mulberry gardens severely infested by papaya mealybug in 6 locations, 3 each at Virudunagar and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu @ 200 individuals per location during November 2010. An average of 10.4% parasitism and 9.7% reduction in papaya mealybug population was noticed a month after release of parasitoids and the population of the papaya mealybug was decreased gradually corresponding to the increase in percent parasitism @ 2, 3, 4 and 5th months. The population of papaya mealybug from the mulberry garden was almost completely eliminated with 96.6% at 6th month corresponding to 72.2% parasitism. Among the parasitoids released, the highest proliferation and field activity was observed in the case of A. papayae, which accounted for 75.6 – 81.7% parasitization followed by P. mexicana (9.3-24.4%) whereas A. loecki registered comparatively very poor performance (0.7-9.0 %) and its field recovery was not found 4 month after release in mulberry ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, India.
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