Survey for Hymenopteran and Dipteran Parasitoids of the Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Chiapas, Mexico

Authors

Ramiro E. Ruiz-Najera, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas
Jaime Molina-Ochoa, Universidad de ColimaFollow
James E. Carpenter, USDA-ARS
Jorge A. Espinosa-Moreno, Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas
Jose Alfredo Ruiz-Najera, Universidad Juarez Autonoma de Tabasco
Roberto Lezama-Gutierrez, Universidad de Colima
John E. Foster, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

1-2007

Citation

J. Agric. Urban Entomol. 24(1): pp. 35–42 (January 2007).

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

A survey of hymenopteran and dipteran parasitoids of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) larvae was conducted to determine their occurrence and parasitism rates in Western Chiapas, Mexico. 1247 FAW larvae were collected from whorl-stage corn cornfields in 21 locations in the region called ‘‘La Frailesca’’ in Chiapas, Mexico during the summer of 2002; 251 larvae produced parasitoids for an overall parasitism rate of 20.1%. Five braconids were recovered from FAW larvae, Rogas vaughani Muesebeck, R. laphygmae Viereck, Chelonus insularis Cresson, C. cautus Cresson, and Glyptapanteles militaris Walsh. Two ichneumonids, Neotheronia sp., and Ophion flavidus Brulle, and one eulophid, Euplectrus plathypenae Howard were recovered. Dipteran parasitoids were also recovered from last instars. These were the tachinids Archytas marmoratus Towsend, Lespesia archippivora Riley, Archytas sp., and Winthemia sp. Megaselia scalaris Low was a unique phorid recovered. Dipteran parasitoids produced a parasitism rate of 6.3%, and were mostly recovered from 5th and 6th FAW instars. Most of the parasitoid species were recovered from FAW larvae that were collected from corn plants in the V3 growth stage. In this survey, O. flavidus, E. plathypenae, Chelonus spp., and species of Rogas (Syn: Aleiodes) were the most frequently recovered species in ‘‘La Frailesca’’.