Cycloneda sanguinea (Linnaeus, 1763)

Santos-Cividanes, Terezinha Monteiro dos, Matos, Sidnéia Terezinha Soares de, Matta, Danilo Henrique da, Cividanes, Francisco Jorge, Ribeiro, Alex Antonio & Suguino, Eduardo, 2015, Cycloneda sanguinea (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a Host forHomalotylus hemipterinus (De Stefani) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) in Brazil, The Coleopterists Bulletin 69 (2), pp. 280-282 : 280-281

CYCLONEDA SANGUINEA (L.) ( COLEOPTERA : COCCINELLIDAE ) IS A HOST FOR HOMALOTYLUS HEMIPTERINUS (DE STEFANI) ( HYMENOPTERA : ENCYRTIDAE ) IN BRAZIL

TEREZINHA MONTEIRO DOS SANTOS- CIVIDANES Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios, Regional Centro Leste Avenida Bandeirantes, 2419, Vila Virgínia, CEP 14030-670. Ribeirão Preto, SP, BRAZIL [e-mail]

SIDNÉIA TEREZINHA SOARES DE MATOS, DANILO HENRIQUE DA MATTA, FRANCISCO JORGE CIVIDANES, ALEX ANTONIO RIBEIRO Universidade Estadual Paulista, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Departamento de Fitossanidade, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n CEP 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, BRAZIL [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

AND

EDUARDO SUGUINO Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios, Regional Centro Leste Avenida Bandeirantes, 2419, Vila Virgínia, CEP 14030-670 Ribeirão Preto, SP, BRAZIL [e-mail]

Predaceous lady beetles ( Coleoptera : Coccinellidae ) are important predators of arthropod pests in many crops. In turn, they also have many natural enemies, such as parasitoids, that attack the immature and adult stages ( Iperti 1999; Riddick et al. 2009). Ceryngier et al. (2012) reviewed the distribution and hosts of primary and secondary lady beetle parasitoids. The authors listed approximately 160 parasitoids, including 40 hyperparasitoids. The primary parasitoids represent three families of Diptera and eight families of Hymenoptera .

Among the Hymenoptera , Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank, 1802) (Braconidae) is the best known coccinellid parasitoid and is characterized as a generalist endoparasitoid of species of adult ladybugs. Other known lady beetle parasitoids are larval or larval/pupal parasitoids. Members of the genus Homalotylus Mayr (Encyrtidae) are considered a dominant group of lady beetle parasitoids that are endoparasitoids of larval and pupal Coccinellidae . Sixty-four species of Homalotylus are known worldwide ( Hodek 1973; Riddick et al. 2009; Noyes 2014).

In Brazil, parasitism of Cycloneda sanguinea (L.) by Homalotylus flaminius Dalman was reported by Costa Lima (1962) and Gravena (1978), and the emergence of Homalotylus terminalis (Say) from larvae of Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville and C. sanguinea was reported by Togni et al. (2013). Homalotylus species can cause a decrease in lady beetle populations (Anis and Hayat 1998; Ceryngier et al. 2012). High rates of parasitism (90–95%) reported in several studies indicate they may limit the efficacy of entomophagous coccinellids ( Hodek 1973; Kenis et al. 2008).

In the present study, C. sanguinea larvae were collected from sugarcane leaves in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil and transferred to the Laboratory of Entomology, Paulista Agency for Agribusiness Technology, APTA Regional Center East. The larvae were individualized in Petri dishes (9.0 cm diameter), maintained at 25 ± 1°C and 12:12 h (L:D) photoperiod, and fed daily with nymphs and adults of the aphid Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) ( Hemiptera : Aphididae ). After parasitoids emerged from larvae and were identified, voucher specimens were deposited in the Museum of Entomology APTA Regional Center East.

The parasitoid species reported in this study was identified by Dr. John S. Noyes, Natural History Museum, London, UK, as Homalotylus hemipterinus (De Stefani) . It is a cosmopolitan species recorded from Brazil and other South American countries. Its main hosts include larvae and prepupae of Coccinellidae , including C. sanguinea ( Noyes 2010, 2014).

The C. sanguinea larvae were only parasitized by H. hemipterinus during the period that the coccinellid population reached its highest level in the sugarcane crop (February to March 2012). In that period, 63 larvae and adults of C. sanguinea were collected, representing 68.5% of the total captured during the survey carried out from January to December 2012. Ceryngier et al. (2012) reported that parasitism of immature entomophagous coccinellids by Homalotylus spp. tends to increase with an increase in the population of the host.

Larvae of C. sanguinea parasitized by H. hemipterinus were black and afixed to the substrate. Similar behavior was observed by Hodek (1973) for coccinellid larvae parasitized by Homalotylus spp. According to Hodek (1973), after a few days, parasitized host larvae attach themselves to the substrate as if passing through the molting process, but they instead become swollen and the cuticle becomes hard and dark.

Homalotylus hemipterinus adults emerged through several circular orifices in the dorsal, ventral, and lateral parts of pre-pupae of C. sanguinea ( Fig. 1 ). According to Hodek (1973), parasitoid larvae pupate in separate chambers in the dry residue of the host body, and each adult wasp makes a hole to leave the host. An average of 7.5 ± 0.6 SE individuals emerged from each larva (n = 15), characterizing the parasitoid as gregarious. Togni et al. (2013), in recording associations of parasitoids with Coccinellidae in the Federal District and Minas Gerais, Brazil, observed an average of 4.7 ± 1.8 SE individuals of H. terminalis emerging from larvae of H. convergens and C. sanguinea .

There is just one reference ( Noyes 2010) about the parasitism of C. sanguinea by H. hemipterinus , which was recorded in larvae of the coccinellid species found in maize in San Andros, Bahamas. It is noteworthy that this is the first record of H. hemipterinus being associated with C. sanguinea larvae in Brazil. Due to the importance of parasitoid mortality to lady beetles, additional studies are needed to understand the diversity and influence of this natural enemy on the population dynamics of coccinellids.

Figures

Fig. 1. Pre-pupae of Cycloneda sanguinea killed by Homalotylus hemipterinus. Arrows indicate emergence holes of the adult parasitoid.