Isolation and DNA Barcode Characterization of a PermanentTelenomus(Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) Population in Florida That Targets Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Telenomus remus Nixon is a platygastrid egg parasite of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), with a history of use as an augmentative biological control agent in Central and South America. Efforts were made in 1975–1977 and again in 1988–1989 to introduce T. remus into the fall armyworm overwintering regions of southern Florida to mitigate infestations by this migratory pest, but in neither case was evidence of long-term establishment found. However, in 2009 and again in 2013, an unidentified Telenomus species was found attacking fall armyworm sentinel egg masses placed on corn plants or pasture grasses in the north-central Florida counties of Levy and Alachua. Taxonomic uncertainties have so far not allowed a conclusive identification of species by morphological keys. DNA barcode comparisons showed a single Florida haplotype in all collections that was identical to that found in a T. remus colony from Ecuador and very similar to a T. remus colony from Honduras. The T. remus ba...