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Abstract
A wide range of quinoa pests are known throughout the world. The most serious of the Andean pests are Eurysacca melanocampta(Meyrick) and E. quinoaePovolný (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), found mainly in Peru and Bolivia, which cause considerable yield losses. Insects found elsewhere in the world are polyphagous pests constituting a wide range of potential pests if quinoa is implemented as a crop in those regions. Other major pests include a group of cutworms (Noctuidae). Apart from insects birds cause a major loss through foraging, damaging cotyledonous plants and inflorescences, with yield losses of up to 60%.
Cultural practices and host plant resistances will be important components of integrated pest management (IPM). Biological control of the main pests is good; for example, up to 45% of Eurysacca melanocamptain the field are usually controlled by a range of parasitoid species as well as predators in the field.
Future research should focus on the main pests in order to reveal basic information on interactions with the host plant. Population carryover from one growth season to another and the role of environmental factors on insect development and population size should also be studied.
Acknowledgments
The study was funded by DANIDA/RUF Denmark (CR). We are grateful to S.-E. Jacobsen (CIP) for advise and comments P. Delgado A. Mujica R. Ortiz A. Perez E. Zanabria and E. Yabar thought us on their experiences with quinoa pests in Peru and H.C. Sharma shared a manuscript on the IPM activities on sorghum with us.
Specimens will be deposited in the Entomological Museum of Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru. Identifications were done by Ole Karsholt of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen Denmark, (E. quinoae and E. melanocampta) James E. O'Hara, Systematic Entomology Section, Agriculture y Agri-Food Canada (Phytomyptera sp.) and Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, Zoological Museum, University of Turku Centre for Biodiversity, Finland (Ichneumonidae gen. n.). Harold Hidalgo and O. Zegarra supported in other ways.