First record of the occurrence of parasitoids of genus Eurytoma and Eupelmus (Hymenoptera: Calcidoidae) associated to the seeds of Cassia leptophylla in Brazil

Abstract

The presence of parasitoids, predators, and pathogens that utilize the biological control of pest is important to agriculture and forestry is imperative as a dynamic equilibrium factor in agroecosystems. The insects of the order Hymenoptera possess a great diversity of habitats and are a species of insectivores predominate in population, frequencies, and effectiveness, in which they attack pest. The knowledge of the species that forms an ecosystem is one of the basic assumptions within a program of integrated pest management. This study objective identifies the parasitoid species of Cydia tonosticha and Pygiopachymerus lineola obtained from fruits of Cassia leptophylla (Fabaceae: Caesalpinoideae) collected from trees in an urban area of the municipal of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, and sent to the Entomology Laboratory of the Department of Plant Defense at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). The species found were identified as genus Eurytoma (Eurytomidae) and Eupelmus (Eupelmidae), and found as the first record of these parasitoids associated with the gold medallion tree (C. leptophylla).