Abstract
The tomato is a crop of great importance for Brazilian agriculture. Among the most damaging pests, the small tomato borer, Neoleucinodes elegantalis Guenée (Lepidoptera: Crambiadae) has caused great losses, since they directly reach the fruits to be commercialized, being used for its handling a large volume of insecticides. In this way, the use of alternative techniques that help in the management of this pest becomes of great importance. Among them, the use of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma spp. has been promising. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the performance of Trichogramma species and/or strains in N. elegantalis by selection of strains. The selection was made based on four lineages maintained in the Nucleus of Scientific and Technological Development in Phytosanitary Management of Pests (NUDEMAFI), being three strains of the species T. pretiosum and one of T. galloi species. The parameters evaluated were percentage of parasitized eggs, egg viability, number of individuals per eggs, sex ratio and number of Trichogramma spp. to be released. The T. galloi (T. g1) showed the best parameters for selection of the strain. Estimating the optimal number of T. g1 in eggs of small-fruit-borer was 82 individuals per egg parasitoid. Therefore, this strain was selected for the management of the small tomato-borer, whose eggs presented favorable physicochemical characteristics for the development of the parasitoid.
Highlights
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is cultivated in several regions of Brazil, being a high-risk crop, mainly due to the damages caused by the pests both in crops destined for the in natura consumption and for the industrialization (Souza & Reis, 2003)
The results obtained in the present work demonstrate the importance of selection of strains of this parasitoid for the management of tomato-borer, since there are differences for the parameters evaluated in the species and/or tested strains, since the host is a factor that can provide behavioral changes in this egg parasitoid (Pratissoli et al, 2003; Goulart, Bueno, Bueno, & Diniz, 2011; Hou et al, 2018)
These variations occur mainly because of the nutritional and morphological characteristics of the egg, such as size, shape, thickness and rigidity of the chorion, posture behavior (Hassan, 1994; Bakthavatsalam et al, 2013). This fact shows that T. g1 had the highest rate of parasitism, being only progeny of females and emergence of descendants of all parasitized eggs
Summary
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is cultivated in several regions of Brazil, being a high-risk crop, mainly due to the damages caused by the pests both in crops destined for the in natura consumption and for the industrialization (Souza & Reis, 2003). The use of biological control with release of Trichogramma may be promising in the phytosanitary management of tomato-borer, because in tomato, this parasitoid has already been used on a large scale, because it is highly efficient and specialized.
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