Suitability of different mealybug species as hosts to solitary endoparasitoid, Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) ( = Aenasius bambawalei Hayat)

ABSTRACT

We investigated the suitability of six mealybug species, namely Phenacoccus solenopsis, Saccharicoccus sacchari, Paracoccus marginatus, Drosicha mangiferae, Nipaecoccus viridis and Ferrisia virgata as hosts to Aenasius arizonensis ( = Aenasius bambawalei). The study was conducted to ascertain a viable parasitic relationship between a parasitoid species and different mealybug hosts. Successful parasitization, complete development of immature stages within the host and adult emergence was observed only in P. solenopsis, whereas, other mealybug species were not found suitable as hosts by the parasitoid in both choice and no-choice tests. The development studies of A. arizonensis on P. solenopsis showed that the mean duration from oviposition to mummy formation was 6.13 days, while, from mummy formation to adult emergence, it was 5.43 and 7.05 days for male and female, respectively. The total development period from oviposition to adult emergence was 11.28 days for males and 13.13 days for females. Female adults (19.96 days) live longer as compared to male adults (7.83 days). Among different mealybug species, P. solenopsis was observed to be the only ecological and fundamental host of A. arizonensis.

KEYWORDS:

• Aenasius arizonensis
• mealybug
• Phenacoccus solenopsis
• parasitization
• suitability
• host specificity

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Professor and Head, Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India) for providing necessary facilities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.