Primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids associated with the striped mealybug <i>Ferrisia virgata</i> (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) infesting the ornamental host plant,<i>Leucaenia leucocephala</i> in Giza region, Egypt

Abstract

A survey of the parasitoids and hyperparasitoids associated with the striped pseudococcid mealybug, Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) infesting the ornamental host plant, Leucaenia leucocephala was carried out during October of the three years 2017, 2020 and 2023. Each October sample was presented by 400 mummified individuals. They were sorted as mummified third nymphal instar, female, and gravid female. The survey revealed the presence of three primary endoparasitoids and two hyperparasitoids. The two primary parasitoids, Blepyrus insularis (Cameron) and Acerophagus gutierreziae Timberlake (Are solitary and the third Acerophagus sp. is gregarious. The two hyperparasitoids, Chartocerus subaeneus (Forster) (Hymenoptera: Signiphoridae) and Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus (Mercet) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) were presented. The first one is gregarious, while the second is solitary. B. insularis and C. subaeneus were recorded as the most dominant species over the three years. P.aegyptiacus was recorded only in October 2023. Its sex ratio (Females/total) varied according to the mummified host stage. It was 21.05, 58.33 and 86.15% for the considered stages, respectively. This was attributed to in reverse the host size and subsequently the nutritional value available to the parasitoid as a survival technique. During 2023, B.insularis was the dominant followed by P. aegyptiacus, C. subaeneus, Acerophagus sp., and A. gutierreziae at 59.25, 30.00, 18.33, 6.67 and 5.75%, respectively. The mean number of C. subaeneus that emerged from one mummified host stage were 2.46±0.50, 3.90±0.82, and 6.58±0.77 from a mummified host of a third nymph, female and gravid female, respectively. A number of Acerophagus sp. that emerged from one mummy of a mummified adult female ranged from 2-4 individuals (mean of 3.25±0.75), compared with 6-8 individuals (Mean of 7.11±0.75) from a mummified gravid female.